South Africa beat India by 76 runs on the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, February 22, in a Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup 2026. This was India’s first loss in an ICC tournament since their 10-wicket defeat to England within the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal.
After winning the toss and selecting to bat, South Africa scored 187 for 7 in 20 overs. They were in trouble early at 20 for 3, but David Miller played a powerful knock of 63 runs off 35 balls. Dewald Brevis (45 off 29) and Tristan Stubbs (44 not out off 24) also chipped in with necessary runs. For India, Jasprit Bumrah was the standout bowler, taking 3 wickets for just 15 runs.
Chasing 188, India struggled badly and were all out for 111 in 18.5 overs. Shivam Dube, who scored 42 off 37 balls, was the one batter who showed some fight. For South Africa, Marco Jansen took 4 wickets for 22 runs, while Keshav Maharaj picked up 3 for twenty-four.
Team India’s T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal qualification scenarios
India’s big defeat to South Africa has made their path to the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinals much tougher. The most effective situation for India now could be to win each their remaining matches — against Zimbabwe on February 26 and West Indies on March 1. They may also need South Africa to beat each West Indies and Zimbabwe of their remaining Super 8 matches.
If that happens, South Africa will finish at the highest of the group with six points, and India will come second with 4 points. Zimbabwe and West Indies wouldn’t find a way to get greater than two points in the event that they lose to each India and South Africa.
If teams find yourself with the identical variety of points, net run rate will resolve who goes through (in the event that they have won the identical variety of matches). Because India lost heavily to South Africa, their net run rate has taken a success. So, it’s not nearly winning their next two games — additionally they have to win by big margins to enhance their run rate.
If India manage to win only one in all their remaining two matches, their probabilities of reaching the semifinals will likely be very slim. In that case, they would wish South Africa to win all their matches and likewise hope for a selected combination of ends in the West Indies vs Zimbabwe game. Even then, India’s net run rate would need to be higher than each Zimbabwe and West Indies to qualify.
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