India’s unbeaten run in the T20 World Cup came to a crushing halt with a heavy defeat to South Africa in the Super 8 stage on Sunday. Chasing 188 in Ahmedabad, Suryakumar Yadav’s men were bowled out for 111 in 18.5 overs, suffering a 79-run loss at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Shivam Dube top-scored with 42 off 37 balls, but the innings never truly gained momentum as India’s batting crumbled under pressure.
The loss marked India’s heaviest defeat by runs in T20 World Cup history, surpassing their previous worst — a 49-run loss to Australia in the 2010 edition. It also became their second-biggest defeat in all T20Is, behind the 80-run loss to New Zealand in Wellington in 2019.
India’s total of 111 was their third-lowest in T20 World Cups. Their lowest remains 79 all out against New Zealand in Nagpur.
Despite winning all four group-stage matches, cracks had begun to show. Ishan Kishan fell early, Tilak Varma struggled again, and Abhishek Sharma failed to find fluency. Even captain Suryakumar Yadav could not anchor the innings, while the middle order offered little resistance.
South Africa’s bowlers were clinical. Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj and Corbin Bosch exploited the grip and uneven bounce perfectly. Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah had delivered a superb spell of 3/15 to restrict the Proteas to 187/7, but his effort was undone by the batting collapse.
The defeat — India’s first in a T20 World Cup since 2022 — has thrown the Super 8 group wide open, turning their remaining matches into virtual must-win contests.
