If you still can’t believe it, it happened. Virat Kohli caught a fish. Nanny. Nine times out of 10, he would have closed his eyes. It was a departure that India did not expect from him. Shaking his head and smiling, Kohli looked downcast. The bowler was stunned, as were Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and the Indians in the stadium and elsewhere.
It was such a day. Unbelievable as it was, Kohli’s catch like that, along with Kagiso Rabada’s, dismissed him and Hardik Pandya. That brought the catch down, a few more direct shots landed on target and the result could have gone India’s way.
You rarely hear this, but India lost not because the bowling wasn’t good enough to defend 133, but because they lost on home soil. Or the batting should have taken India to at least 150. South Africa were 40/3 at the halfway point of the innings. , looking at a query rate of 9.4. Ten balls later, Kohli gave life to Aiden Markram, who was late in the ninth over after Sharma edged the stumps through cover. Markram and David Miller added 76 for the fourth wicket and that was it for India.
“We were a bit poor in the field,” Sharma said at the post-match presentation ceremony. “We gave away a lot of chances and we weren’t clinical. We just weren’t good enough. In the last two games, we played well on the pitch. We didn’t hold on to our chances and we conceded a few runs as well.” With the win, unbeaten South Africa moved into Group 2 with five points from three matches. With four points, India are in contention for the semi-finals but need to win their next two games against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
The match did not depend on the wire, but on Suryakumar Yadav’s patience and Arshdeep Singh’s brilliant opening. Nine balls and a miss smashes Sharma’s six with a big shot before he falls to a similar challenge, only this time he is pressed to do it. Just like that, KL Rahul was caught at first slip after his vision went wrong. Deepak Hooda quickly lost himself against this caliber of bowling, but the most devastating blow came when Kohli ripped Rabada inches off the ground with his leg.
He could have left her. In short order, Lungisani Ngidi had Kohli reeling in, only for the ball to hit him big and try to cross the stumps for a thick top edge. Before this amazing catch, Kohli looked infallible. India ended the powerplay at 33/2 but Kohli, with two superb boundaries, tried to keep the game going. Ngidi tries a good length ball but he leans into it and extends it for four. In the next ball, Ngidi made a mistake and hit a half ball, which Kohli hit over mid-wicket for four.
With the half out in the ninth, everyone fell to the rising ball. From 59/5 in over 10 overs to 101/5 in the 15th over, it was the Yadav show. He stuck to his game, not wavering from his batting range to score 68 off 40 balls. He got on the line and whipped Henrich Northje behind the crease, using Ngidi’s pace to put a perfect six between two men in the deep and slotting it beautifully upright past the off-striker Dinesh Karthik. four. India maintained a decent run rate as he sang. But when he needed support the most, Karthik – a slog-overs expert – fell to the first ball of the 16th over after misplacing a pull, after his first aggressive knock stretched to a six off 14 balls.
Victory still looked possible in the second over when Arshdeep took Quinton de Kock and Riley Rossouw within three balls. If South Africa’s fast bowlers were on the back of bouncers and lengths, India punched holes with Test lengths. De Kock slipped as he attempted to drive the in-swinging ball, and Rossouw’s shot was deceptively on the back foot.
Once skipper Themba Bavuma was caught after 10 off 15, the game was wide open again. But South Africa were given a few lives, once by Sharma in the ninth over and then in the deep by Kohli Sharma who missed again despite having three stumps to target from close range. It would have been interesting if Yadav’s shyness at Miller’s leg also struck.
The fast bowlers dominated, so it was the turn of the spinners to pick up their bats. Between Keshav Maharaj and Markram, South Africa conceded 33 runs in four overs. But Miller lured Ashwin for two sixes in the 14th over and then hit him again for back-to-back sixes in the 18th over to give South Africa a much-needed win.