Ahmedabad, February 22 – South Africa defeated India by 76 runs in their Super Eights match in the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, ending the defending champions' 12-match winning streak in the tournament and seriously jeopardizing their chances of reaching the semi-finals.
In a rematch of the 2024 T20 World Cup final, the Proteas recovered from an early setback to score 187/7 before dismissing India for just 111 in 18.5 overs. South Africa's innings appeared to be in disarray when Jasprit Bumrah bowled a devastating opening spell of 2-7 in his first two overs, reducing the Proteas to 20/3.
Although Bumrah finished with 3-15, surpassing Ravichandran Ashwin to become India's all-time leading wicket-taker in T20 World Cups with 33 wickets, David Miller (63) and Dewald Brevis (45) put on a breathtaking 97-run partnership off just 51 balls, taking the game away from India. Tristan Stubbs then smashed an unbeaten 44 off 24 balls to help South Africa reach 187/7.
India's first chase in this World Cup began disastrously and never recovered. After the powerplay, they were in a precarious position at 31/3. Shivam Dube top-scored with 42 but received little support from the middle order, as South Africa's pace attack, led by Marco Jansen's 4-22, bowled with variations in length and pace to dismantle India's batting lineup.
This heavy defeat has made India's path to the semi-finals considerably more difficult. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side must now win both of their remaining Super Eights matches – against Zimbabwe in Chennai on February 26 and West Indies in Kolkata on March 1 – to guarantee a place in the final four.
Should India win only one of those matches, their qualification will depend entirely on the results of other matches and their net run rate – a precarious position for a team that arrived at this stage as heavy favourites and defending champions. As of now, India's net run rate is at -3.8.
A similar situation unfolded for India in the 2012 T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, where a nine-wicket loss to Australia pushed their net run rate into negative. Despite two wins, they never managed to recover enough to reach the semi-finals. For India, a tournament that once seemed destined for glory on home soil has suddenly taken a dramatically uncertain turn after being completely outplayed by the Proteas.
