Virat and Rohit were present in abundance for kilometres around the Narendra Modi Stadium as the sun sank and the clock ticked towards seven o' clock on Sunday. Abhishek, Hardik and Ishan were also there, although not as prolifically. There was at least one Jasprit - but surely more - and a sprinkling of Suryakumar. And a Smriti. Markram appeared at least twice, glowing yellow amid all the blue.

If you wanted a replica shirt on your way to, or perhaps past, the men's T20 World Cup Super Eights match between India and South Africa, the roadside shopping options were plentiful. Given the pace of the traffic - a glacial ooze, even on some of Ahmedabad's wider roads, of cars, two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws and buses - there was more than enough time to stop and try on a few for size without falling too far behind in the painstaking procession.

Was there a Miller in the mix? Or a Jansen? How about Maharaj? Maybe, but they didn't show itself to the busload of reporters being ever so slowly ferried towards their privileged perch at the world's largest cricket stadium.

Miller took charge of South Africa's innings after they slipped to 20/3 in the fourth. He edged the third ball he faced, a delivery from Varun Chakaravarthy, thickly for four - but hammered the next properly through mid-off for another boundary.

Two more Miller fours, pulled and driven through extra, followed, in the next over, which was bowled by Arshdeep Singh. Then he smoked Washington Sundar to the long-off ropes. Varun disappeared over the long-on boundary for six, as did Hardik Pandya. Then Miller made Suryakumar, of all people, look clumsy - somehow India's captain dived over a slapped cover drive, which went for four. Miller went to his 50 by hoisting Shivam Dube's trusted fullish, widish ball high over cover for six.

That was the 26th delivery Miller faced, and it earned him his first half-century in eight innings - half of them unbeaten - in either white-ball format for South Africa since he scored 100 not out off 67 against New Zealand in the losing cause of the Champions Trophy semifinal in Lahore in March.

But Miller's innings wasn't all about power. He opened the face of his bat to Hardik and with sublime touch and timing glided another boundary through deep third. His running between the wickets was as sensible as it was speedy, and his midpitch meetings with Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs looked as sharp as they were short.

Miller shared 97 off 51 with Brevis - who mistimed Dube to deep midwicket - and had put on 32 off 21 with Stubbs when he foraged for a wide one from Varun and started walking even before the ball was caught at long off.

There was a wonderful weirdness about the fact that Miller's 63 - off 35, 56 of them hit in fours and sixes - was exactly his age in reverse. He did indeed bat like a 36-year-old, but in the best way; with all the authority and presence that comes with apparently having been around forever.

Still, South Africa had a job to do after losing Miller, Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch for 15 runs in the space of 21 deliveries. Their 187/7 matched the number of runs they scored at the same venue against Afghanistan 11 days previously. And there was no way South African hearts could stand another super over, nevermind two.

Happily, it never came close to that. With Jansen in sniping form and dismissing Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma in his first two overs, India shambled to 26/3 in 27 balls - the fewest number of runs they have made with three-down in their five matches in their tournament. Their Powerplay of 31/3 was their lowest in the competition.

The closest the Indians came to recovering was while Dube and Pandya were sharing 35 off 30. But, considering the partnership started at 51/5 in the 10th, it rang hollow with futility. Maharaj ripped the soul out of any remote chance of a comeback by removing Hardik, Rinku Singh and Arshdeep in the same over, the 15th, and all with catches by Stubbs at long-on. Jansen returned in the 19th to end the match by dismissing Dube and Jasprit Bumrah with consecutive deliveries.

South Africa's win, by 76 runs, was the second-heaviest defeat India have suffered in T20Is when they have batted second. Many in the crowd of 81,429 didn't hang around for confirmation of the result. They started streaming for the exits after 14 overs, when the home side were 86/5. That became a flood when Maharaj took two more wickets without a run added.

By the time India were beaten, probably half those who had come to see them win were on their way home. Maybe if Virat and Rohit had still been around, they might have told themselves as they went, things would have been different. But what to do about Abhishek and Hardik? At least Bumrah was still Bumrah with his 3/15. But, sometimes, against opponents who aren't scared, who have come to win and know how to do that, who - unlike India in the tournament - have yet to lose, even Bumrah isn't enough.