Navi Mumbai: India showcased a devastating exhibition of their batting potential ahead of the T20 World Cup proper when they racked up another 200-plus score and restricted South Africa to register a 30-run victory in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup warm-up match against South Africa at an almost full-house DY Patil Stadium, here on Wednesday.
Chasing a massive 241 for victory, South Africa were always going to be under pressure in front of a 43,790 people at the DY Patil and the Indian bowlers showed great discipline to restrict the visitors for 210/7 in 20 overs.
Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton cracked 38 and 44 respectively but the rest of the batting floundered.
Earlier, batting first after winning the toss, the potential opening pair of Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma blasted away to 70 plus in five overs with the former the more aggressive of the two.
Kishan went hammer and tongs as he struck an eye-catching 53 off 20 balls, an innings studded with two fours and seven sixes and a strike rate of 265 which sent South Africa on the backfoot in no time.
On the other hand, although Abhishek was not as fluent as his usual belligerent self he still got a quickfire 24 off 18 balls that comprised three fours and a six.
Kishan’s was the standout Indian batting performance but it was not the only one that powered the team’s total of 240/5 in 20 overs.
Tilak Varma is getting back into his groove and in typical style as he smashed a fiery 45 off 19 balls with three fours and as many maximums.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav was at his 360-degree best as well with his 30 coming off just 16 balls with two fours and two sixes as he shared a 44-run partnership with Tilak Varma.
Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya then showed the depth of India’s lower middle order as both racked up scores of 35 and 30 respectively as the hosts launched into the Proteas in the final five overs of their innings.
In response, South Africa were in all sorts of trouble early on losing George Linde cheaply to Arshdeep Singh.
Skipper Aiden Markram gave it a charge as he smashed 38 off just 19 balls with two fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 200 and retiring thereafter.
Rickelton gave them a glimmer of hope with a blistering 44 off 21 balls comprising four fours and three maximums at a strike rate of 209 .
However, the rest of the Protean batters struggled as India’s total of 240 looked a long way away.