Insipid India undone by Proteas precision

Eight hundred and twenty-six days. Since their last defeat in an ICC white-ball tournament, India had won 17 straight games and two championships. But sport has a long memory and a cruel sense of geography, and when they returned to the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad for their Super Eights opener against South Africa, they found the past waiting for them. Their batting, the engine of everything that had followed in those 826 days, came apart at the seams. Asked to chase for the first time in this T20 World Cup, India folded meekly against the might of South Africa's bowling, falling 76 short of the 187-run target - their biggest defeat (by runs) in T20 World Cups.

The failings seemed choreographed, almost uncomfortably so. A left-handed opener fell for a duck to an offspinner in the first over, except this time it was Ishan Kishan undone by Aiden Markram. Abhishek Sharma, watching from the non-striker's end, got off the mark for the tournament but couldn't find his footing, playing and missing repeatedly before holing out. Between those two dismissals, a third southpaw, Tilak Varma, charged down the track and nicked off, burning a review on his way back.

If the problems were familiar, so was the tormentor. Marco Jansen (4 for 22) had made life miserable for India during the recent Test series, and he picked up exactly where he left off, finding seam and bounce to account for Tilak, then producing a wonderfully disguised knuckle ball to draw the false shot from Abhishek, desperate to rediscover the hitting form that had carried him to the top of the T20I rankings in the build-up to this tournament.

At 26 for 3, a sliver of hope remained: they could yet mirror what David Miller and Dewald Brevis had conjured with a counter-attacking 97-run stand after a similarly troubled Powerplay. But when India's score lurched to 44 for 4 and then 51 for 5, Corbin Bosch removing both Washington Sundar and Suryakumar Yadav in quick succession, the writing was etched firmly on the wall. Keshav Maharaj did the rubber-stamping with three wickets in the 16th over, sending India down a scenic route to make semi-finals, with the NRR blow (-3.80) serving a reminder that any further misstep - in Chennai or Kolkata - could bring the curtains down on their title defence far sooner than anyone anticipated.

While the defeat laid bare some of India's frailties, it also served as a reminder of how fickle this format can be, and how good they have been at bending it to their will over the last two years. Only two months ago, they had smashed 231 on this very surface against this opposition. But the black soil pitch that greeted both sides today, flecked with grass and laced with visible cracks, bore little resemblance to that December evening. Aiden Markram read it and chose to bat first, a bold call, given that only twice before had a visiting team elected to bat in a T20I against India in India and walked away with the win.

India also made South Africa doubt their decision at the toss by quickly reducing them to 20 for 3. Bumrah knocked over two southpaws at the top of the order in contrasting fashion - a quick, seam-up delivery angled into Quinton de Kock and knocked over the left bail while a devilishly disguised slower ball left Ryan Rickelton playing early and chipping a leading edge to mid-off. Between those two dismissals Arshdeep Singh won his matchup against Markram, getting the South African hitting to mid-off with a ball that held on the surface.

South Africa needed to answer back, and fast. Fortunately for them, Miller was in the kind of mood that makes scorecards blush. He came to the crease and simply started timing the ball with pristine ease - two boundaries off Varun Chakaravarthy, two more off Arshdeep, 18 runs devoured in just 8 balls. By the time the Powerplay had run its course, South Africa had clawed their way to 41.

The introduction of spin shifted the atmosphere. Chakaravarthy, so often the one holding the knife, found himself on the other end of it. Both Miller and Dewald Brevis stood tall on the back foot and pounced whenever he strayed fuller, turning the tables on the man who had made a career of turning the tables. At the other end, Hardik Pandya began his spell by bowling 11 good balls before overstepping with his 12th and Miller duly deposited the free-hit for a six.

With spin not working, Suryakumar turned to Shivam Dube to get some overs out of the way and even after the all-rounder conceded 15 from his first, he was called on to bowl a second. After being hit for a six by Brevis, Dube ended the 97-run stand with a short ball that Brevis miscued. Miller though completed a 26-ball half-century, sending another free-hit over the ropes.

At 144 for 4 in the 15th over, South Africa had recovered well and set themselves up for a total close to 200. Suryakumar decided to gamble with a fourth over for the under-fire Chakaravarthy, a move that paid off as the No.1 T20I bowler redeemed his day somewhat by getting Miller to hit one straight to long-off. Although he ended up conceding 47, the dismissal meant that he'd taken at least a wicket for an 18th straight T20I innings - a record for India, surpassing Arshdeep's 17-game streak.

India frontloaded their death options in the hope of prizing more wickets and to that effect, the move paid off as Bumrah returned to produce two more terrific overs and added the wicket of Bosch for outstanding figures of 3 for 15. Arshdeep dismissed Jansen at the other end and that meant India had done admirably well to drag South Africa back. But their efforts were undone as Tristan Stubbs took down Hardik for 20 runs in the final over, finishing with two sixes to give South Africa 187, a score that ultimately proved to be too many for India to chase.

Brief scores: South Africa 187/7 in 20 overs (David Miller 63, Tristan Stubbs 44*; Jasprit Bumrah 3-15) beat India 111 in 18.5 overs (Marco Jansen 4-22, Keshav Maharaj 3-24) by 76 runs.