Proteas ace the Perth pace test

If the fast bowlers’ union had its way, it would wrap the Optus Stadium surface up and carry it along all over the world. Not unexpectedly, it was pace that held sway on Sunday night, South Africa’s greater depth in that department and a sensible fourth-wicket partnership between Aiden Markram and David Miller ending India’s unbeaten run in a top-of-the-table Group 2 Super 12 clash in the Twenty20 World Cup.

The returning Lungi Ngidi was the deserved Player of the Match for an outstanding first spell of sustained hostility, but there could have been a different tale to tell had India not been profligate in the field. Virat Kohli, of all people, put down the simplest of chances at deep mid-wicket to reprieve Markram, off R Ashwin, when the batsman was 35. A run later, Markram hit it lucky again when Rohit Sharma missed the easiest of run out opportunities from no more than 10 yards.

In a game of small margins, such errors were bound to be decisive, and once Markram and Miller turned their attention to Ashwin’s off-spin which yielded a whopping 43 runs in four overs – the match average was 6.85 runs – the match was over as a contest.

The score book will show that South Africa overhauled India’s 133 for nine by five wickets with only two balls to spare, but for the last 45 minutes, it was decidedly one-way traffic, once Markram and Miller had tided over a demanding early phase when a wicket appeared imminent.

India’s modest total after Rohit won the toss and batted in the belief that the ball would misbehave even more under lights was largely thanks to further affirmation of Suryakumar Yadav’s class and versatility. Unaccustomed to facing fast bowling of such top quality on a track of such favourable mien, Suryakumar (68, 40b) batted with the composure and authority of a virtuoso even as more accomplished willow-wielders were undone by the bounce Ngidi in particular extracted.

Ngidi has made it a habit of undermining India. On his Test debut in 2018, he picked up six second-innings wickets in Centurion to bowl South Africa to a 135-run win, and he was again at it, snaffling Rohit, the horribly out of sorts KL Rahul, Kohli and Hardik Pandya in his first three overs. Wayne Parnell and Kagiso Rabada had softened up the top order, and Ngidi reaped the rewards for hitting the hard lengths. Barring Rahul, the other three fell to the pull, Pandya superbly caught by Rabada running in from long-leg and diving forward.

At 49 for five – Deepak Hooda had put Anrich Nortje in business with an ill-advised, flat-footed waft – India were staring down the barrel when Dinesh Karthik kept Suryakumar company during a stand of 52. Karthik, who later left the field clutching his lower back as Rishabh Pant took over wicketkeeping duties, hardly hit a shot in anger, watching in admiration as Suryakumar laid into the bowling, contemptuously whip-flicking Nortje over long-leg for six and crunching Ngidi back past him for four on his way to a 30-ball 50. It was high-class batsmanship, the lone bright spot in a sea of collective mediocrity.

Arshdeep Singh briefly raised the hopes of 44,000-plus fans with the scalps of Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw, coming off hundreds in his last two T20Is, in the second over of the chase. When Mohammed Shami packed off the embattled Temba Bavuma, South Africa were 24 for three and up against it.

Markram, with daring, and a lot more restrained Miller steadied the ship. At the halfway mark, South Africa had reached only 40 but the next four overs yielded an astonishing 45. The momentum had shifted, and the two let-offs didn’t help India’s cause. Even when Markram was dismissed for 52 after a stand of 77 with 33 needed in 4.2 overs, there was no sign of panic, and Miller put the issue beyond doubt with successive sixes off Ashwin.

The left-hander also brought the curtain down with a flourish, smashing Bhuvneshwar Kumar for two fours in a row in the last over and finishing unbeaten on 59, an innings worth its weight in gold.

(R Kaushik is a senior cricket writer)