India vs South Africa highlights, T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8: Clinical South Africa crush India by 76 runs

South Africa head coach Conrad Shukri Conrad is relishing the prospect of facing defending champions India in their Super Eight opener of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on Sunday, saying his side moves into the next phase brimming with confidence after an unbeaten run in the group stage.

Speaking ahead of the marquee clash, Conrad admitted that the initial phase of the tournament brought its own nerves, but the mood in the camp has now shifted to excitement.

"The first half of the group stages was the anxious bit for me. This is now the excitement," Conrad said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

The South Africa coach explained that tournament cricket unfolds in distinct phases, with progression from the group stage being only the beginning.

"Tournament cricket almost has three parts to it. You've got to find a way of just getting out of that group stage. So we did that. Now you look, and you say, right, we've got India first up, and then the West Indies with some of the most entertaining players in the world, and that excites me."

Conrad also spoke about handling pressure in high-stakes contests, pointing out that it is not one-sided.

"Pressure is a big thing, but it's pressure both for them and us. I think we all talk about the pressure of playing against the top side, but we're not quite aware of what the pressures they are under," he said.

"I'm not, for one, suggesting that a guy who has three ducks in his last three matches comes under pressure for his place in his side. No," he remarked.

The player in question is Abhishek Sharma, who is yet to score in the tournament and also missed India’s second match due to illness, according to ESPNcricinfo.

The world’s top-ranked T20I batter has failed to get off the mark in his three innings so far against USA, Pakistan and the Netherlands. He featured in the latter two games after recovering from a stomach infection that required hospitalisation and reportedly led to significant weight loss. In his last eight innings, he has registered five ducks.

In eight innings this year, Abhishek has accumulated 182 runs at an average of 26.00 and a strike rate exceeding 224, including two half-centuries with a highest score of 84.

Conrad also downplayed the emphasis placed on individual “match-ups” ahead of the clash against India.

"The match-ups can be overstated. I'm not a big fan of it," Conrad said. "Sometimes the wickets are so good that it takes the match-ups out of the equation. If there's something in the wicket and there's a little bit of spin, then the match-up could be there for the off-spinner against the left-hander. Maybe the angle you create sometimes. By and large, I think it's slightly overstated on really good batting wickets."

Former Indian cricketers have predicted the semi-finalists of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 ahead of the start of the Super 8s , which will commence on Saturday with Pakistan taking on New Zealand at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Eight teams have been placed in two groups of four. All the teams will play three matches against other teams in their group, with the top 2 teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals.

Defending champions India, 2024 runner-ups South Africa, two-time champions West Indies and Zimbabwe are in Group A. While the 2009 champions, Pakistan, the 2014 champions, Sri Lanka, two-time winners England, and New Zealand are in Group B.

In a video released by Star Sports on Friday, India's Test great Cheteshwar Pujara picked India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and New Zealand for the top four.

While Mohammad Kaif opted for India, South Africa, England and New Zealand for the next stage.

India's highest wicket-taking spinner in T20I, Yuzvendra Chahal, picked India, South Africa, England and New Zealand to reach the top four, while fomrer pacer Varun Aaron made the boldest call, picking India, West Indies, England and Pakistan, notably leaving out both South Africa and New Zealand.

Former coach Sanjay Banger made some interesting picks, going with Pakistan, India, South Africa and Sri Lanka. However, former cricketer Saba Karim went with India, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka as his semi-finalists.

Due to pre-seedings done before the start of the tournament, all the table toppers from the group stage have come in the same group A. While the second number of teams are in Group B.

Meanwhile, India will start their campaign in the Super 8s on Sunday when they face South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. They will play their next match against Zimbabwe on Thursday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Defending champions will play their last match in the Super8s on March 1 against West Indies at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata.

India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has flagged two key concerns ahead of the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup — the predictability of a left-handed top order and the team’s difficulty against finger spin.

Addressing select media after the win over the Netherlands in their final league game, Doeschate admitted that the tournament favourites are yet to deliver a complete performance.

With Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma forming an all left-handed top three, he conceded that the pattern has made planning simpler for rival sides.

Opposition teams have increasingly deployed off-spinners inside the Powerplay to tie down the Indian top order, particularly targeting Sharma, who is yet to open his account in the tournament despite entering it in red-hot form.

Netherlands off-spinner Aryan Dutt bowled three overs in the Powerplay on Wednesday and dismissed both Sharma and Kishan.

Doeschate, however, clarified that the issue isn’t restricted to off-spin alone but extends to finger spin in general — an area India must address before their Super 8 fixtures against South Africa, Zimbabwe and West Indies.

"It has (made it easier for teams to plan against India). We don't have many options (in the top three). We've got Sanju sitting on the side and we feel on balance, particularly with the games coming up, if we look at what finger spin is, we are going to come up against New Zealand.

"We've got a few guys who bowl finger spin and so do the West Indies and so does South Africa if you include Markram. But on balance, we still feel that these are our best batters and we're going to make do with the abundance of left-handers," said Doeschate.

Onus on batters to find a way

Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus troubled India with his round-arm off-spin in Delhi, while Pakistan’s Usman Tariq, Salman Agha and Saim Ayub also applied pressure in Colombo.

Doeschate stressed that the responsibility lies with the batters to devise better methods against finger spin, especially when surfaces offer grip.

"I wouldn't say off spin, I'd say finger spin," said the assistant coach when asked about areas requiring improvement heading into the next phase of the ICC event.

"If you take the combined, I think Pakistan bowled 14 overs of finger spin in the last game and off the top of my head I want to say something like 4 for 78 or something like that. So it's not great numbers.

"Colombo was a particularly difficult wicket and I think the numbers tonight got sort of improved towards the back end. But again, Aryan Dutt bowling four overs, it is a big challenge.

"I think these two venues in particular with the bigger boundary here (Ahmedabad) and obviously a slower wicket in Colombo sort of does exaggerate that. But it's something we're going to have to focus on, like I said, with the amount of finger spin we're going to get in the next three games," said Doeschate.

India begin their Super 8 campaign against South Africa on Sunday.

"I think on better wickets you won't see it (batters struggling against spin). You can hit through the line with more confidence, but the point is that we need to have plans where the wickets do hold and the boundaries are there.

"We need to be able to have a game plan to deal with that threat," he added.

Even the Netherlands had structured their approach around India’s vulnerability to spin after observing the Pakistan match.

"We obviously looked at the Pakistan game and saw that they'd struggled with spin. So we had a focus of - in the power play bowling spin, trying to limit their scoring options. I think their spinners bowled really well to stop them from getting off to good starts, so credit to the," said Bas de Leede.

Abhishek Sharma batting well in nets

Despite three ducks in a row, Doeschate is not worried about Sharma's form. The left-hander missed the Nambia game due to a stomach infection which needed hospitalisation. He fell to the off-spin of Salman Agha and Aryan Dutty in the last two matches.

"He batted really well last night in the nets (on the eve of Netherlands game). He spent 90 minutes batting. I think we've also got to give him a bit of space. He came into the prep phase not feeling well, obviously spent a few days in hospital and then missed the game.

"So it's been a very disjointed competition for him so far. But I saw some really good signs last night with his ball striking and instead of a hound in my heart, absolutely no worries about him. He'll be fine for the second phase," added the assistant coach.

India will start their campaign of the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8s round against South Africa. The clash between the two finalists of the 2024 World Cup will happen at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

India and South Africa are placed in a tough Group A of the Super 8s with two-time champions West Indies and Zimbabwe. All four teams are coming to the contest after being table toppers of their respective groups in the first round.

This will be the 36th time India would face South Africa in the shortest format. Suryakumar Yadav's team have the upper hand when it comes to the overall record. In the 35 matches played between them, India have emerged victorious in 21 occasions while South Africa have won only 13 games. One match has no result.

India's dominance continues in the T20 World Cup also. Both teams have historically played seven matches in the multi-national tournament, in which the defending champions have won five matches, while the Proteas have been able to get only two wins.

South Africa are yet to beat India in a knockout match. Both teams have previously played in the 2014 semi-final and the historic 2024 World Cup final, but the two-time champions won in both matches.

India and South Africa recently met each other in a five-match T20I series played in December last year, where the men in blue beat the 2024 runners-up by 3-1, with one match getting washed out.

Head-to-head record between India and South Africa in T20Is

Total Matches Played: 35

India won: 21

South Africa won: 13

No Result: 1

Performance of both teams in their last 5 matches

India: W, W, W, W, W

South Africa: L, W, W, W, W

Hello and welcome to the Live coverage of ICC T20 World Cup match between India and South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Captain Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma’s recalibrated approach — opting to stabilise the innings instead of going all-out from the outset — will come under scrutiny when India face a formidable South African outfit in their opening Super Eight clash of the T20 World Cup on Sunday.

The Proteas bring with them a menacing bowling attack featuring Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj and skipper Aiden Markram. The defending champions are well aware that this will be a far sterner examination than what they encountered in the group stage.

Remarkably, the two sides will meet for the sixth time in the past two months, and it remains to be seen which team benefits more from the familiarity when they square off under lights.

India have largely cruised through the group phase without being seriously tested. However, the hosts know their batting hasn’t quite clicked. Apart from opener Ishan Kishan — who has struck two half-centuries at a blistering strike rate of 202 — the rest of the top order has struggled to impose itself.

Abhishek Sharma is enduring a lean patch, registering three ducks, while Suryakumar and Tilak, despite defending their anchor roles, have looked far from fluent on surfaces where the ball has tended to grip. On such tracks, the Mumbai Indians duo have found stroke-making far from straightforward.

India’s scoring momentum has often relied on the power-hitting of Hardik Pandya (strike rate 155) and Shivam Dube (strike rate 178) in the death overs.

With Abhishek dismissed by off-spinners in successive games, it will be interesting to see if Markram introduces spin early during the Powerplay. While Abhishek’s form is a pressing concern, Tilak’s laboured starts have also drawn attention. He managed 25 off 24 balls against Pakistan, 25 off 21 against Namibia, and a painstaking 31 off 27 against the Netherlands.

His tournament strike rate hovers just above 120 — significantly below his career rate of 141.

Suryakumar, barring his unbeaten 84 off 49 balls against a depleted USA attack, has not looked at his explosive best either. Against Pakistan and the Netherlands, he appeared scratchy, reflected in a tournament strike rate in the mid-130s — well below his career mark of over 160.

For a side that fields eight batters and prides itself on aggressive intent regardless of conditions, carrying two out-of-touch stroke-makers on sluggish surfaces could prove costly. In tournaments like the T20 World Cup, caution doesn’t always translate into success.

There is no denying the quality in this Indian unit. On their good days, they breach the 200-mark with ease; even on average outings, they flirt with that total.

What truly sets India apart, though, is their bowling arsenal. Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy have controlled eight of the 20 overs with precision and menace. None of the four teams in the initial round — including a below-par Pakistan side — managed to counter the duo effectively.

Chakravarthy has claimed nine wickets in four matches at a remarkable economy rate of 5.16, while Bumrah has conceded just six runs per over across his three outings.

Yet, against a batting line-up stacked with firepower — Quinton de Kock, Markram, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton, David Miller and Jansen — the entire bowling unit will need to rise collectively.

The clash against South Africa will offer a clearer picture of how India’s campaign might unfold in the knockout stages.

On the team front, India are likely to bring in Kuldeep Yadav in place of Arshdeep Singh, while Axar Patel is set to return after a one-match break, replacing Washington Sundar.

South Africa, meanwhile, are expected to welcome back Jansen, Ngidi and Maharaj, all of whom were rested in the previous game against the UAE.

Squads:

India: Suyakumar Yadav (captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Sanju Samson (wk), Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh.

South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickleton, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Keshav Maharaj, Corbin Bosch, Anrich Nortje, Kwena Maphaka, George Linde, Jason Smith.