Internet Desk: South Africa halted India’s unbeaten run in T20 format, giving them a wake up call ahead of their first match against New Zealand in tournament proper. Chasing a target of 197-runs, India fell 3 runs short of the target.
The men in blue recovered from a poor start through a partnership of 94 runs between left-handers Shikhar Dhawan (73) and Suresh Raina (41).
After both Dhawan and Raina left the field, retiring voluntarily, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30 not out) and Yuvraj Singh (16 not out) brought down the target from 43 in 18 balls to 14 in the last over before India ended up at 192 for 3, to lose their first game after eight successive wins.
Earlier, left-handed batsmen Quinton de Kock (56) and Jean Paul Duminy (67) flourished with attractive knocks for South Africa.
India made a dismal start to the stiff run-chase by losing their two in-form top order batsmen Rohit Sharma (10) and Virat Kohli (1) cheaply inside three overs with only 16 runs on the card.
Sharma, who had cracked an unbeaten 98 in the 45-run win over the West Indies in the team’s opening warm-up game in Kolkata two days ago, hit a flat-six with a step-out slash off Dale Steyn but then was trapped plumb in front by Kyle Abbott in the second over.
Kohli, who did not play in Kolkata, tried to slog Steyn and edged to keeper de Kock to leave India in dire straits.
Ajinkya Rahane (11) was dismissed by Imran Tahir with a googly in the over after power play ended.This brought together two left handers to the crease and Dhawan, now more assured, and Raina staged a fine rescue act by adding 94 runs to keep the Indian run-rate on par with their rivals’.At the end of the 13th over, India were 121 for 3 and after the 15th, the hosts needed 60 runs for victory.
When India were 142 for 3 after 16 overs, both the batsmen retired to the pavilion after adding 94 runs in 59 balls to leave skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh to take the side past the finish line.
Requiring 43 in 18 balls, Dhoni hit Steyn for a six and a four in successive balls and two 2s to bring down the target by 15 runs in the 18th over at the end of which India needed 28 runs.
But Yuvraj could not get going full tilt in the 19th and India fell short of the target after needing six off the last ball.
Earlier opting to bat first, the Proteas lost two early wickets before de Kock, who made a quick-fire half century in 33 balls before retiring, and Duminy feasted well on the Indian offerings.
De Kock and Duminy then put on 77 runs for the third wicket, quite comfortably and at a brisk rate to get the innings back on track.
Hardik Pandya grabbed three wickets for 33 runs, including two in one over, while Bumrah (2 for 51) and Shami (2 for 37) were the other wicket takers.
India, who open their World T20 campaign in Nagpur on March 15 with the Super 10 clash against New Zealand, did not field R Ashwin and Ashish Nehra today.
Brief scores:
South Africa 196 for 8 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 56*, JP Duminy 67; Hardik Pandya 3 for 36) beat India 193 for 5 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 73*, Suresh Raina 41*; Imran Tahir 1 for 25) by 3 runs.