After opening their Super 12 campaign of the T20 World Cup with back-to-back wins against Pakistan and Netherlands, Team India lost their first loss of the tournament, against South Africa by 5 wickets in Perth on Sunday. The win took Proteas to the top spot in Group 2 with five points, while India (Four points) slipped to the second spot. However, A dropped catch and missed run-out opportunities hurt India against South Africa, and those few errors from the Men in Blue eventually resulted in India’s defeat.
Opting to bat first, India only managed to reach the target of 133/9 from 20 overs, and South Africa was once reeling at 40/3 at the end of the first 10 overs. David Miller and Aiden Markram made a match-winning partnership of 76 runs for the fourth wicket and that changed the script of the game, paving way for South Africa’s victory. In the ninth over of the 2nd innings that was bowled by Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma missed out on a direct hit to get rid of Aiden Markram.
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Pandya had unleashed a long ball and David Miller, on strike, had tapped this one toward the right of the cover. Miller had initially called Markram for a single, but eventually sent his batting partner back, which then led Rohit Sharma to collect the ball but the Indian skipper eventually failed to hit the stumps.
Another major opportunity came in the 12th over when Aiden Markram went for a pullover deep mid-wicket off R Ashwin, and Virat Kohli, the fielder there, fumbled with the ball before eventually dropping it. Had that catch been taken, it would have been a major turning point in the game, and it’s safe to say that it was a blessing in disguise for Markram as he went on to score a match-winning 52.
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Another opportunity to inflict a run-out went downhill for Rohit Sharma when in the 13th over that Mohammed Shami was bowling, David Miller managed to fend it towards the cover region and proceeded running in towards the other end. However, Rohit ran in from cover and proceeded with an underarm throw towards the striker’s end, but eventually missed the stumps. That was another golden opportunity lost for Team India.
Here is the video of the dropped chances:
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Here is how fans are reacting the missed chances:
@ImRo45 @imVkohli papam pakisss😂🤣 #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/PHepIT1jGe
— Feblar (@naveenfeblar) October 30, 2022
https://twitter.com/vermaji90/status/1586719937275404288?s=20&t=jHWzClJFzmfSRGpNaCNXGg
I just can't believe what I saw@imVkohli dropping an easy catch & @ImRo45 missed easy run out
They are our best cricket players in the World 🌎#INDvsSA #T20WorldCup #T20WorldCup2022
— All About Namma Bengaluru 🇮🇳 (@sajhm13) October 30, 2022
https://twitter.com/varishkhan99/status/1586720223818043393?s=20&t=MP6xGizdGoD5-7vwlDw9HQ
