India beat South Africa by one run but suffer elimination

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA – OCTOBER 02: M S Dhoni (C) along with teammates Gautam Gambhir (L) and Zaheer Khan of India walk back to the pavilion after the game during the ICC World Twenty20 2012 Super Eights Group 2 match between South Africa and India at R. Premadasa Stadium on October 2, 2012 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

South Africa made sure India didn’t get a semi-final berth as they had done in 2007. Despite this, India managed to sneak in a one-run victory in the last Super Eight game in Colombo.

South Africa brought in Faf du Plessis in place of the out-of-form Richard Levi. Du Plessis was in good touch from the very first ball he faced. His cover drives were well connected, his lofted drives were well-placed. He found the middle of the bat often, and the sound of ball meeting bat was rhythmic. His innings of sixty-five off thirty eight was studded with six beautiful fours and two huge sixes.

It does make people wonder as to why South Africa had dropped him from their previous match against Australia. Chasing 152, the Proteas began their innings in abysmal fashion, losing Hashim Amla for nought, Jacques Kallis for six and deVilliers for 13 in the space of their first six overs. As the wickets tumbled at the other end, du Plessis began to cut loose and was able to find the boundary rather easily, and they had been quite hard to come by until he began to rhythmically dispatch the ball towards the ropes.

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA – OCTOBER 02: Jacques Kallis of South Africa walks back after getting out during the ICC World Twenty20 2012 Super Eights Group 2 match between South Africa and India at R. Premadasa Stadium on October 2, 2012 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

By the time he had been dismissed by Yuvraj, the damage had already been done. Alviro Peterson did the honour of eliminating India from this edition of the T20 World Cup by scoring the South Africans’ 122nd run. Amazingly enough, Ravichandran Ashwin had Peterson out twice – once off a no-ball, the other during a free hit – in as many deliveries. Peterson was taking the game away from India. But Zaheer Khan popped up to throw South Africa a sucker-punch with two wickets from two balls.

When Lakshmipathy Balaji was handed the ball to bowl the last over, South Africa needed 14 runs with Albie Morkel taking strike. He hit a six, but was sent walking the next ball. Morne came in to replace his brother, and did the same, meaning which South Africa were bundled out, falling a solitary run short of India’s total of 152.

For India, Zaheer Khan finished with 3/22 and Yuvraj with 2/24, as they picked up some prize scalps. Balaji, who went for plenty in this all-important match, ended up with the figures if 3/37

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA – OCTOBER 02: Yuvraj Singh of India celebrates the wicket of AB De Villiers of South Africa with teammate Suresh Raina during the ICC World Twenty20 2012 Super Eights Group 2 match between South Africa and India at R. Premadasa Stadium on October 2, 2012 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

India hadn’t started start well either. Their top three failed miserably, which meant that by the end of their Power Play, India were reduced to 36/3. Yuvraj chipped in with a fifteen-ball twenty-one, before Morne uprooted his off-stump. Rohit Sharma played a cautious innings of 25 off 27 deliveries where he found boundaries hard to come by

Suresh Raina underlined why the best of him came out in this format, as he donned the mantle of saviour for Team India. He, alongside MS Dhoni punished Dale Steyn all over the park, and their aggressive finish ensured India had reached the 150 mark.

Steyn, as usual, was miserly enough but couldn’t pick up any wickets. Morne dismissed both Yuvraj and Gambhir for the loss of 28 runs, while Peterson conceded 24 runs, picking up Sehwag and Sharma en route.

Pakistan now face Sri Lanka, while Australia faces the West Indies in the semi- finals of the tournament to decide the finalists of this year’s edition of the T20 World Cup.