Team India’s 12 match winning streak in T20Is come to an end; they fail to defend 212 runs against South Africa

The great fortress that Indian Cricket had built in the form of T20I cricket in recent times has finally been breached. Their pristine streak of  12 undefeated games has finally come to an end. And South Africa deserves all the credit for it.  

Right after the extravagant tournament of IPL, India took on South Africa on their home turf. They were missing some of the biggest names like Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah, and Shami. But had enough firepower to see them through the series.

Losing the toss, India was invited to have a bat on a tricky-looking surface in Delhi. It took some time for their openers, Gaikwad and Kishan, to get a hold of how the pitch was working. Although once they got their eye in, they made plenty.

Kishan in particular, who had a forgettable IPL, set the stage for a majestic total. He scored 76 off 48. And later, the middle order followed on his great start. As a result, India posted a total of 212 on the board in their 20 overs.

A miserable second inning

Looking at the total, it was a tough ask for South Africa. Considering the fact that they had never chased such a big total, and the deteriorating condition of the pitch, everyone wrote them off.

Also, the start of their inning wasn’t too pleasing either. They lost two early wickets in the form of Bavuma and Pretorious. However, their middle-order came to the rescue at the right time.

A great 131-run partnership between David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen saw South Africa win the game with 7 wickets and 5 balls to spare.

The Indian bowling was very sloppy in the same period as they failed to break the partnership. Some blame for the same has to be rested on the newly-appointed captain: Rishabh Pant.

He was indeed unable to marshal his troops around. And the best example of the same is that Chahal didn’t bowl his full quota at a turning track. Pant relied heavily on his pace bowlers, who failed him miserably.

As a result, India lost their precious winning streak of 12 wins.