India vs South Africa talking points: Bounce and butterfingers cause India misery

T20 World Cup 2022: South Africa is now on top of Group 2.

India was outclassed by South Africa on a cold evening at the Perth Stadium as Lungi Ngidi, David Miller, and Aiden Markram played their parts to perfection.

India was reduced to 49/5 on a pitch that had pace and bounce before Suryakumar Yadav's one-man act (68 of 40) dragged the Men in Blue to a respectable total.

David Miller and Aiden Markram exploited India's fielding misadventures and miscalculated gambles as the pair put on a 76-run match-winning partnership, for the fourth wicket, to help South Africa romp to a 5-wicket victory.

This win puts South Africa top of Group 2 with 5 points and an Net Run Rate of +2.722, while India moves a place down to second with 4 points and an NRR of +0.844.

All teams across the two groups have played three matches each.

Here are the talking points from India's defeat to South Africa at the Perth Stadium.

India's openers struggled yet again, with KL Rahul coming under even more scrutiny. Granted it was a tough pitch to bat on, with India opening its scoring only after 10 balls as the South African pacers thrived on the lively wicket.

However, yesterday marked yet another failure for the Indian openers as KL Rahul (9 of 14) and skipper Rohit Sharma (15 of 14) departed within the powerplay overs.

already excited for kl rahul's early dismissal tomorrow

— vishal dayama (@VishalDayama) October 29, 2022

India's batting coach said the team is backing the stylish Rahul and not looking to replace him with Rishabh Pant. However, after failing to make an impression in the third game running, pressure is mounting on the team to take a call on Rahul ahead of the crucial final fixtures.

The stadium was cold, the pitch was bouncy, and the Indian players were layered up while coming on to bat. The South African bowlers knew exactly what needed to be done as they brilliantly exploited the conditions on hand.

3 Overs 17 Runs 4 Wickets

Lungi Ngidi bowled one of the best spells of T20 World Cup. : Disney + Hotstar#INDvSA | @NgidiLungipic.twitter.com/vNilygzrBs — CricTracker (@Cricketracker) October 30, 2022

Lungi Ngidi set the tone as he and the rest of the quicks harassed the Indian batsmen with hard lengths and fiery pace. Introduced in the fifth over after the openers got off to a cautious start, Ngidi struck twice in his first over. He outfoxed Rohit Sharma by cramping him on his favourite pull shot, as the ball spooned up into the air and landed safely in Ngidi's hands for a caught and bowled.

Four balls later, Ngidi outsmarted Rahul for bounce and drew an outside edge that Aiden Markram gleefully accepted at first slip.

The muscular fast bowler then combined with KG Rabada on the field to scalp two of India's dangerous batsmen. He first got Virat Kohli with a short ball as Rabada ran across fine leg boundary rope to pouch a smart catch before Hardik Pandya lost his gamble against the short ball as Rabada dived and pulled off a stunning grab.

The Indian batsmen struggled against the pace of the wicket and the South African quicks exploited the conditions to a T.

Even as the batsmen around him were succumbing to the pace and bounce of the source, Suryakumar Yadav played like he was batting on a different wicket. He never panicked as wickets kept tumbling and his composure helped him craft an innings that took India to a respectable total.

SKY scored more than half of India's runs and his six boundaries and three sixes were more than what the rest of the batsmen managed. Not faced by the shot-pitched stuff, he timed his shots superbly and found gaps at will as he dug deep into his arsenal of shots. He took a particular liking to Keshav Maharaj, scoring 25 runs from 12 balls of the left-arm spinner.

SKY scored 68 runs from 40 balls, averaging a strike rate of 140, while the rest of the batsmen scored 57 runs at an appalling strike rate of 71.25.

The gulf in class was there to be seen.

While the Indian pacers did their best to keep South Africa under pressure during the chase, the fielders let the team down at crucial moments.

India's best fielder dropped an absolute sitter of Aiden Markram, who heaved R Ashwin to the midwicket boundary. It was a catch that was harder to drop but Kohli somehow saw the ball bounce off his palms and onto the ground. Markram was on 35 at that moment and he went on to score 17 more runs.

Virat Kohli drops a catch & Rohit Sharma misses a run-out

Aiden Markram survivies twice in an over! : Disney + Hotstar pic.twitter.com/pxAjo6xsWS — CricTracker (@Cricketracker) October 30, 2022

David Miller was the other benefactor of India's generosity on the field. The left-hander ran for a single after fending off a Mohammad Shami short ball but was struggling to make his ground as the Indian captain aimed at the non-striker's end. Sharma had three stumps to aim, and Miller was so far away from his ground that the Indian captain had enough time to take a couple of more steps before releasing the ball. But amazingly, Sharma missed the stumps and that proved costly as Miller went on to hit the winning runs.

India took two gambles that did not pay off on Sunday. The first was to bring in Deepak Hooda for Axar Patel. Dropping Patel was not surprising as the spinner would not be of use on a bouncy Perth wicket.

What was the point of picking Hooda over Pant though, in which dreamland scenario would you ever bowl him here

— Dave (@CricketDave27) October 30, 2022

However, Hooda didn't contribute much to the cause as he got out for no score and did not bowl in the second innings. Many social media commentators feel Rishabh Pant would have made the ideal replacement for Patel in the XI, especially since Hooda was never given the ball.

The second gamble that backfired was to bowl R Ashwin in the 18th over, against the big-hitting David Miller. The off-spinner's record against the left hander in T20s in 2022 does not make for good reading, and the story was the same on Sunday.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ESPNcricinfo (@espncricinfo)

Miller hit two huge sixes in the 18th over to effectively tide the game towards South Africa's favour and that proved to be the death knell for India in the game.

After the match, Rohit Sharma defended his decision to give Ashwin the over saying: "I have seen what happens in the last over with spinners, so I just wanted to go the other way and see if I could finish Ash and not keep him for the last over."