Ahmedabad, February 22 India's batting unit, known for its aggressive approach, was comprehensively defeated by South Africa in the T20 World Cup on Sunday, losing their opening Super Eights game by 76 runs.
While their strong performance in the group stage had raised hopes, the Indian batters struggled against a slightly slower pitch.
This defeat, India's first since losing to England in the semi-final, has created a wide-open group, making their next two games against Zimbabwe (February 26) and West Indies (March 1) crucial for qualification to the quarter-finals.
Jasprit Bumrah's (3/15 in 4 overs) excellent bowling performance was undone by a poor batting display, as India were bowled out for a meager 111 in 18.5 overs while chasing 188.
Marco Jansen (4/22), Keshav Maharaj (3/24), and Corbin Bosch (2/12) were the key performers for South Africa.
However, David Miller's 63 and useful contributions from Dewald Brevis (45) and Tristan Stubbs (44 n.o.) also deserve recognition, particularly as they effectively countered Varun Chakravarthy's (1/47 in 4 overs).
But anyone who saw the Indian batters struggle against the USA, Namibia, and the Netherlands knew that one strong team could force them to change their strategy, and South Africa proved to be their nemesis.
On a pitch where the ball was gripping, none of the Indian batters could effectively counter the Proteas' attack.
Captain Aiden Markram dismissed the dangerous Ishan Kishan (0) with a delivery that stopped on him, and the batsman played a poor shot.
Tilak Varma's (1) approach to batting throughout the tournament was not effective, and he was dismissed after just two balls.
Tilak's attempt to target Marco Jansen ended disastrously, and he also wasted a DRS opportunity that could have been heard from as far as the Sabarmati Ashram.
Abhishek Sharma (15) managed to score some runs, but he was eventually dismissed by Marco Jansen, who bowled a knuckle ball that found its way into the right area.
The decision to include Washington Sundar in place of regular vice-captain Axar Patel proved to be a mistake, as the all-rounder failed to perform well with both bat and ball.
Suryakumar Yadav (18 off 22 balls) also struggled to get the ball off his bat, and his performance was disappointing on a difficult pitch against a strong attack.
Suryakumar's dismissal off Bosch, who flicked a delivery on leg-stump to mid-wicket, was particularly frustrating.
At 51 for 5, the match seemed to be over, but Hardik Pandya (18 off 17 balls) and Shivam Dube (42 off 37 balls) provided some late resistance.
The duo added 35 runs, but the bowling plans devised by South African coach Shukri Conrad were effective in this phase.
Lungi Ngidi and Bosch bowled wide yorkers at variable pace, which the two batsmen couldn't handle.
Spinner Keshav Maharaj (3/24) adjusted his lengths and bowled at a slower pace, which made it difficult for the batsmen to get under the ball and generate power.
Once Pandya and Rinku were dismissed, the 90,000-odd spectators slowly left the stadium, disappointed by another World Cup defeat at this venue.
Earlier, David Miller had played a brilliant innings, but Bumrah's excellent bowling had restricted South Africa to 187 for seven in 20 overs.
Miller, who was on the verge of a century, scored 63 off 35 balls, with fine support from young Dewald Brevis (45 off 29 balls) after Bumrah (3/15 in 4 overs) and Arshdeep Singh (2/28 in 4 overs) had reduced the Proteas to 20 for 3 inside the first four overs.
Bumrah, who took two wickets in his first two overs for just seven runs, continued his excellent form, taking one more wicket in the 17th over for 8 runs. However, his performance ultimately proved to be in vain.
