India Beats South Africa In Warm Up Game: India defeated South Africa in their one and only warm-up game (not counting India A) ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup in what was an absolute run-fest.
Tonight’s warm-up game was played at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and saw the home side win the toss and decide to bat first on a batting-friendly pitch.
India Beats South Africa In Warm Up Game
The Indian Cricket Team tried out a new opening pair ahead of the World Cup. Joining the regular opener, Abhishek Sharma, was the wicketkeeper/batter Ishan Kishan, who returned to the national team just last month after over a year of being out of the picture.
The duo of Abhishek and Kishan gave the Men in Blue a stellar start. The pair made 73 runs in the first five overs, and as soon as Ishan reached his half-century in just 20 balls, he retired out. Seeing this was a warm-up game, teams would want all their batters to get some playing time in.
Sharma was retired out soon after, making 24 off 18, an uncharacteristically slower inning. This was after India made 102 runs in just eight overs. The duo of Tilak Varma and captain Suryakumar Yadav kept the run rate high. The two batted till the end of the 11th over, when Tilak was bowled after making 45 off 19.
Suryakumar made 30 off 16, while Rinku Singh was dismissed for 16 off 13. Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya took charge of the death overs batting, making 35 off 23 and 30 off 10, respectively. The Indian Cricket Team’s innings ended at a solid score of 240/6.
It was a bad day to be a South African bowler. Anrich Nortje conceded 57 in three, including 29 in one over, while Kagiso Rabada gave away 44 runs in three overs. Lungi Ngidi was the side’s least expensive bowler, conceding just 23 runs in three overs.
The Proteas’ response to a stellar first inning did not start well. After struggling in the first over, George Linde got out for a duck, dismissed by Arshdeep Singh.
After the first wicket, the South Africans joined in the bashing party. The duo of wicketkeeper Ryan Rickelton and captain Aiden Markram took the score to 66 runs by the end of the powerplay, at which point Markram retired out for 38 off 19.
Dewald Brevis did not make an impact with the bat, making only two runs off four balls before getting out. Rickelton was foxed by Varun Chakravarthy after making 44 off 21, while David Miller was dismissed for 13 off 10 by Axar Patel.
Batter Jason Smith had a decent showing, making 35 off 23, while the duo of Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen did well at the back end of the inning, making 545 off 21 and 31 off 16, respectively.
However, this batting attempt was not enough, as South Africa ended their allotted 20 overs at 210/7. The Indian Cricket Team won this match by 30 runs.
India will head into the 2026 T20 World Cup in fine form. The hosts are in Group A and will play their first match against the USA on Saturday, February 7. On the other hand, South Africa is in Group D of the competition and will face Canada in their first game on Monday, February 9.
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