India's cup of woes overflows after another bitter loss

INDIA THE T20 CHAMPION

India’s wretched run the Super Eight Group E in the ICC World Twenty20 came to a bitter end at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Tuesday, the defending champions failing to reach the modest target set by South Africa. India had a great chance to treat the packed ground to a consolation victory but the fans were let down again by the team’s batsmen.

And it was evident how wrong coach Gary Kirsten had been in suggesting that he had not been able to connect to the players because of the Indian Premier League – the South African team management did not seem to have any such issues, even if many of their players were also busy with their respective franchises.

For all that, India head home after another batting failure even though their slow bowlers turned in a heart-warming show in bowling 14 overs to give the team a chance to score a consolation win. The Indian batsmen lost their way against South Africa’s spinners whose nine overs saw them concede just 32 runs and take five wickets.

Riding on a well constructed 63 by AB de Villiers (51 balls, seven fours), South Africa made 130 for five in 20 overs, struggling through 14 overs of spin. The Indian slow bowlers – as many as five of them – conceded just 75 runs and took three wickets to keep the South African total down to manageable levels.

Despite getting off to a sound start of 48 runs by Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma in the first six overs, India crumbled when spin was introduced. Johan Botha claimed the wickets of Gambhir and Suresh Raina in successive overs while fellow off-spinner Jean-Paul Duminy scalped Rohit Sharma in his only over to push India’s challenge back.

Yet again, it was down to whether Yuvraj Singh would be able to pull the chestnuts out of the fire but with Mahendra Singh Dhoni getting run out, his task became that much more difficult. Yuvraj and Harbhajan Singh tried hard to match the mounting asking rate, it was clear that South Africa’s allround bowling had the men to stop India.

South Africa had been stopped at 128 by New Zealand at Lord’s but the side succeeded in eking out a one-run win over the Black Caps earlier in the tournament, relying on their faster bowlers but on Tuesday, it was their spinners who delivered the knockout punch. It is hard to overlook the fact that left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe bowled 14 dot balls in his four over spell.

South Africa have not been beaten in the ICC World Twenty20 and will meet Pakistan in the semifinal in Trent Bridge on Thursday while Sri Lanka will take on the West Indies in the other semifinal at the Oval on Friday.

As for India, it will not be surprising if some players choose to stay back in England for a few days, given the heat that is being generated by three successive losses in the Super Eight. The defeat on Tuesday was reminiscent of a lacklusture show by another Indian team against New Zealand at the same venue in the farewell Super Sixes game at the 1999 ICC World Cup.