Team India finally lost a match in the T20 World Cup 2022 as they were outplayed by South Africa on a bouncy pitch at Perth on Sunday, October 30. Proteas' fast bowlers ran through the Indian batting lineup as they only managed 133/9 in 20 overs.
The majority of those runs came from the bat of Suryakumar Yadav, who hammered 68 in 40 balls hitting 6 fours and 3 sixes to his name. The next best score was Rohit Sharma’s 15 and Virat Kohli’s 12. Lungi Ngidi took 4/29, while Wayne Parnell got 3/15 for South Africa.
Proteas also found themselves in trouble after Indian bowlers took early wickets with Arshdeep accounting for Quinton de Kock (1) and Rilee Russouw (0) and Mohammad Shami getting rid of Temba Bavuma for 10.
But after that Aiden Markram (52) and David Miller (59*) took South Africa home with 2 balls to spare and 5 wickets in hand and moved to the top of the table in Group 2.
Suryakumar Yadav was praised unanimously for his courageous knock on that bouncy Perth pitch and he showed off his whole range of 360-degree shots. Not only did the Indian cricket fraternity laud him, but former Pakistani captains Misbah Ul Haq and Shoaib Malik also praised Suryakumar Yadav.
Talking on A sports show, ‘The Pavilion’, Misbah rated Suryakumar as the “best middle-order batsman in T20 cricket”.
He said: “He is the best middle-order batsman in T20 cricket. At 170 strike rate, in this match situation, against this bowling, on this pitch, it’s amazing. I haven’t seen an innings like that. To play a dominating innings like that on this pitch …it seemed as if he knew where the ball would land and where he can hit it.”
After him, Shoaib Malik also reasoned why Suryakumar has seen such a meteoric rise in international cricket.
Malik said: “The reason for his success and consistency is that he doesn’t change his game. Even when he gets out in 2 innings, the way of his playing is the same. Yes, he assesses the conditions and the bowlers well and decides what shots can work. He also plays with the minds of the bowlers. He knows what the bowler will bowl: this one will be outside off, this one will be short or at me. I would give the example of AB de Villiers here. He would know ok the bowler has bowled a yorker now, he will bowl a slow bouncer here or outside off stump.”
This was Suryakumar Yadav’s second fifty in the tournament, as he had made a 25-ball 51* against the Netherlands, after failing against Pakistan.
