Wolvaardt continued her good form to star in South Africa’s victory. Photo: X@ProteasWomenCSA

David Miller’s knock put the pressure back on India.
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI

South Africa’s Anrich Nortje is clean bowled during the first T20I cricket match between India and South Africa at Barabati Stadium, in Cuttack
| Photo Credit: PTI

India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav, centre, with teammates, celebrates after winning the first T20 International cricket match between India and South Africa in Cuttack, India, December 9, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal took India home with plenty to spare.
| Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak

When Jasprit Bumrah bowls, batters’ individual agency is in a state of suspended animation. They can rarely choose what happens to them. Bumrah inevitably decides.

Friday at the Eden Gardens was one such day as the maverick pacer blew South Africa away with a mesmerising performance (five for 27) on a lively pitch with not-so-consistent bounce.

The 31-year-old’s third five-wicket haul at home – out of 16 overall – helped dismiss the visitors for 159 paltry runs. And by stumps on day one, India had reached 37 for one, with opener K.L. Rahul (13 batting, 59b, 2×4) and one-drop Washington Sundar (six batting, 38b) — who replaced B. Sai Sudharsan in the slot, in what is becoming a musical chair of sorts — keeping vigil.

The hosts did have one less thing to worry about, for star pacer Kagiso Rabada missed out because of a rib injury.

The day’s proceedings seemed like a cruel joke on Temba Bavuma’s men. India lined up with a four-pronged spin attack — for the first time since 2012 — comprising Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington and Axar Patel, only for the punch in the gut to come from Bumrah’s incredible sleight of hand.

In fact, South Africa prospered for an hour in the morning. After winning the toss, Aiden Markram (31, 48b, 5×4, 1×6) and Ryan Rickelton (23, 22b, 4×4) put on 57 convincing runs, with the former’s astonishing six off Axar, after walking down two steps, the standout shot.

But it proved brief, illusory, and in hindsight, conditional to Bumrah’s brilliance. First to go was Rickelton, who played inside the line and lost his off stump. In Bumrah’s next over, the speedster surprised Markram with a delivery that rose awkwardly, and it flew off the bat straight into Rishabh Pant’s safe hands.

Kuldeep, who toiled hard on an unresponsive pitch last week in Bengaluru in the India-A versus South Africa-A ‘Test’, found the Kolkata strip more to his liking. There was turn, and not of the slow variety, and both these facets played a part in his dismissal of Bavuma, caught sharply by Dhruv Jurel at leg-slip.

Wiaan Mulder (24, 51b, 3×4) and Tony de Zorzi (24, 55b, 1×4, 1×6) attempted to nurse the wounds and were successful for nearly 14 overs. But a moment’s rush of blood from Mulder, as he attempted a reverse-sweep off Kuldeep, proved fatal as he was adjudged leg-before.

Bumrah, who had bowled a superb first spell (7-4-9-2), returned for a second burst which read 5-0-14-1. He alternated between being a fiery expressionist and a subtle purveyor of the art of fast bowling as he mixed up searing yorkers with clever changes of pace.

de Zorzi was pinned to the crease and trapped in front, and Kyle Verreynne was toyed with and never allowed to settle. Mohammed Siraj took advantage of the softening up and duly removed Verreynne and Marco Jansen in the span of four balls.

It was not long before Bumrah applied the finishing touches by getting rid of Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj with some furious wicket-to-wicket bowling, eliciting a thunderous applause from the 36,000-odd fans present.

Scoreboard

South Africa 1st Innings: Aiden Markram c Pant b Jasprit Bumrah 31 Ryan Rickelton b Jasprit Bumrah 23 Wiaan Mulder lbw b Kuldeep Yadav 24 Temba Bavuma c Dhruv Jurel b Kuldeep Yadav 3 Tony de Zorzi lbw b Jasprit Bumrah 24 Tristan Stubbs not out 15 Kyle Verreynne lbw b Mohammed Siraj 16 Marco Jansen b Mohammed Siraj 0 Corbin Bosch lbw b Axar Patel 3 Simon Harmer b Bumrah 5 Keshav Maharaj lbw Bumrah 0 Extras (b 8, lb 4, w 2, nb 1) 15

Total (In 55 Overs) 159

Fall of wickets: 1-57, 2-62, 3-71, 4-114, 5-120, 6-146, 7-147, 8-154, 9-159

Indian bowling: Bumrah 14-5-27-5, Siraj 12-0-47-2, Axar Patel 6-2-21-1, Kuldeep Yadav 14-1-36-2, Ravindra Jadeja 8-2-13-0, Washington Sundar 1-0-3-0.

India 1st Innings: Yashasvi Jaiswal b Marco Jansen 12 KL Rahul not out 13 Washington Sundar not out 6 Extras: (LB-2, NB-4) 6

Total: (For 1 wkt, 20 Overs) 37

Fall of Wickets: 1-18

South Africa bowling: Marco Jansen 6-2-11-1, Wiaan Mulder 5-1-15-0, Keshav Maharaj 5-1-8-0, Corbin Bosch 3-2-1-0, Simon Harmer 1-1-0-0.

Published – November 14, 2025 11:05 am IST

India’s Rinku Singh plays a shot during the 3rd T20I against South Africa, at SuperSport Park in Gauteng on Wednesday (November 13, 2024)
| Photo Credit: ANI

Rinku Singh’s batting slot and circumspect approach must be a cause of concern for the India team going into the deciding fourth T20I against South Africa as the side aims for another bilateral series victory here Friday (November 15, 2024).

Centuries by Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma on either side of an inept batting performance have kept India’s nose ahead in the series and team would want a more collective batting effort to clinch it 3-1.

The Wanderers ‘Bull Ring’ has always been a happy hunting ground for India, where they won the 2007 T20 World Cup final against Pakistan.

Even during the previous T20I series a year back, skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s last international hundred till date came at this very stadium and that too in a winning cause.

The Indian captain, who enjoys a staggering victory percentage of 81.25, having come up trumps in 13 out of the 16 matches, would like to do one better compared to the last series in the Rainbow Nation which had ended in a 1-1 draw with one game being washed out.

Curious case of Rinku Singh

Rinku, one of the finest exponents of T20 cricket has suddenly gone off the boil in the past few months, reasons of which aren’t exactly clear and it wouldn’t be lost on the skipper and interim head coach VVS Laxman.

On the face of it, it seems that his batting position and use as a floater at number six and seven isn’t helping the Aligarh man’s cause.

The next T20 World Cup in India is still some distance away in 2026 and Surya, as a skipper, has enough time to dissect and put things back on track for the man, who is too precious to be lost due to lack of clarity.

In the current series, Rinku came in at number six in two games and number seven in another and has managed just 28 runs.

The scores 11, 9 and 8 shouldn’t be taken in isolation looking at where he is coming in to bat but when the number of balls (34) he has taken to the score runs is taken into consideration, it becomes worrisome.

Even during the last IPL Rinku got to play a total of 113 balls in 15 games for KKR: roughly 7.5 deliveries per game.

Being seen strictly as a specialist “finisher” Rinku, on average, would get to face 10 balls in an innings. The strategy would have been devised to help the India team but of late it has eroded some of the southpaw’s confidence as he seems to be caught between attacking and playing second fiddle.

Most of Rinku’s better efforts have come when he has batted at number five but in a line-up where Sanju Samson is settling as an opener and Tilak Varma has staked claim as a No. 3, it might be difficult for Rinku to be promoted ahead of Hardik Pandya. It is an issue that team think-tank would do better to solve at earliest.

Team Combination

India has used 12 out of their 15 players in the first three games and it would be interesting to see if one among the two uncapped pacers Yash Dayal or Vysakh Vijaykumar gets a debut cap in case the pitch warrants an extra specialist speedster. For Samson, he would like to forget that he is turning into Marco Jansen’s ‘bunny’ after back-to-back failures.

In the final game, it wouldn’t be a bad option for skipper Surya to check on Ramandeep Singh’s steady medium pace as he can be an asset with multiple skills, including ability to field at all positions save keeping.

Squads

India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya. Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh. Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.

South Africa: Aiden Markram (c), Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen. Heinrich Klaasen, Patrick Kruger. Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Mihlali Mpongwana, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton. Andile Simelane. Lutho Sipamla, Tristan Stubbs.

Tilak Varma celebrating after hitting his 100th run during the 3rd T20 match between South Africa and India at SuperSport Park on November 13, 2024 in Centurion, South Africa
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Tilak Varma (107 not out) produced a batting masterclass while slamming his maiden international hundred as India posted a massive 219 for six against South Africa in the third T20I, Centurion on Wednesday (November 13, 2024).

Tilak got ample backing from Abhishek Sharma who made a brisk 50 after SA skipper Aiden Markram invited the visitors to bat first.

The 22-year-old Tilak tore into the South African pacers as he hammered seven sixes and eight fours during his innings off a mere 57 balls, powering India to their second highest score against the Proteas in this format.

On his part, Abhishek banished a poor run with the bat with a stroke-laden half-century, scoring 50 off only 25 balls laced with five sixes and three fours as the two southpaws dazzled with the bat.

With his rich arsenal of strokes in all directions, Tilak dominated the bowling with complete authority and also helped India stay on course through the blips.

First, he forged a 107-run stand with Abhishek for the second wicket to build a strong platform after the early dismissal of Sanju Samson (0).

As India stuttered in the middle overs with Keshav Maharaj (2/36) applying the brakes, Tilak ensured his team did not squander the advantage with a late charge — his last 52 runs came off only 22 balls in the last six overs.

Tilak’s charge also masked the failure for skipper Suryakumar Yadav (1), Hardik Pandya (18) and Rinku Singh (8).

At the start, Samson was beaten by low bounce on the second ball from Marco Jansen as the Indian opener, who made a hundred in the first match, fell to his second successive duck in this series.

But unlike the last game, India made a strong recovery as Tilak and Abhishek made merry on the track which had true bounce and carry.

Abhishek provided a huge relief to the Indian camp with his fifty as hitting through the line after making room served him well. The 24-year-old also ended his eight-match barren run with this knock.

Varun Chakravarthy celebrates the dismissal of South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen during the second T20 cricket match between South Africa and India at St George’s Park in Gqeberha, South Africa on November 10, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Spinner Varun Chakravarthy’s magical craftiness en route a maiden fifer remained a mere footnote as South Africa rode on the stubbornness of Tristan Stubbs to eke out a three-wicket win over India in a low-scoring second T20I at Gqeberha in South Africa on Sunday (November 10, 2024).

The four-match series is now level at 1-1. But SA’s victory, which also halted India’s 11-match winning streak, did not come without its share of drama.

The first hint of a topsy-turvy night came when India limped to 124 for six on a quick, bouncy pitch after getting the invitation to bat first.

The Proteas were at one stage 66 for six and 86 for seven, which eventually transpired into 128 for seven, as Chakravarthy continued his international resurgence with a five-wicket haul (5/17).

But SA found two valiant soldiers in determined Stubbs (47 not out, 41b, 7×4) and aggressive Gerald Coetzee (19 not out, 9b, 2×4, 1×6) who added a precious 42 runs for the eighth wicket alliance to carry their side past the tape.

However, Chakravarthy deserves credit for making the match a thrilling affair. The Tamil Nadu man came to the party after pacer Arshdeep Singh dismissed opener Riyan Rickelton in the third over.

Chakravarthy started his dismantling job going through the defences of SA skipper Aiden Markram, who failed to read a wrong’un.

Reeza Hendricks (24, 21b, 3×4, 1×6) looked comfortable until he failed to pick Chakarvarthy’s googly that rearranged his woodwork.

But the home side did not look in any great danger even at 34 for two after the Power Play, but Chakravarthy’s twin blow in the 13th over pegged the Proteas back.

Heinrich Klaasen, a capable player of spin, chose to go aerial route only to find Rinku Singh in the deep.

David Miller’s tentative prod off the first ball he faced met with thin air as the straight one from the Indian spinner, which quickened after pitched, crashed onto his off-stump.

But Stubbs and Coetzee, who put pacers Arshdeep and Avesh Khan through the wringer, had enough steam in them to give their side a win, as India strangely used left-spinner Axar Patel for only one over on a pitch where tweakers took six wickets.

Earlier, Indian batters too were all at sea on a springy St George’s Park deck against disciplined South African bowlers.

The Proteas bowlers hit the back of length line and the natural bounce on the pitch did the rest. Abhishek Sharma’s dismissal was an example for this.

The left-hander’s underwhelming outings in T20Is continued as his miscued pull off a climbing delivery from Coetzee ended in the hands of Marco Jansen, who made the first strike dismissing Sanju Samson.

Samson, who had become the first Indian batsman to score back-to-back T20I hundreds, gave himself space to carve Jansen over mid-off, but the opener paid a heavy price for needless pre-meditation to get bowled.

Jansen started off with a wicket maiden and the rest of the SA bowlers hardly offered any freebies for Indian batters to shake off the pressure.

Skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who shuffled across a tad too much, missed a fuller delivery from Andile Simelane to get trapped in front of the stumps, and it was the pacer’s maiden international wicket.

Axar (27, 21b), who was moved up the order played a couple of delectable shots including a punch through the covers off Keshav Maharaj for a four, was India’s most assured batter on the night.

But the left-hander backed up a bit too far as Hardik Pandya’s straight drive took a deflection off spinner Peter Nqabayomzi’s hand before rattling the stumps. Axar did not even wait for the review to walk away.

In the interim, India went through a boundary-less period between the 10th and 16th over, which was ended when Arshdeep mowed leg-spinner Peter for a six.

Even an accomplished hitter like Hardik Pandya (39, 45 balls) had to wait till his 28th delivery to find a boundary reflected India’s struggles.

File picture of India head coach Gautam interacting with Sanju Samson

India batter Sanju Samson reflected on his early struggles in international cricket, saying that a string of failures made him doubt his ability, but self-belief and support of the captain and coach helped him stage a strong comeback.

Samson hit back-to-back centuries in T20 Internationals with a breathtaking 50-ball-107 to headline India’s comfortable 61-run win over South Africa in the opening game here on Friday.

“I have faced a lot of failures in my career. I think when you go through that failure, you have lot of doubts in your mind. People definitely say that social media definitely plays a role,” Samson told reporters in the post-match press conference.

“But you also think a lot about yourself. Sanju, are you not made for international level? I think you are doing well in IPL. Why are you not doing well internationally? So I have a lot of such thoughts. But after so many years of experience, I know what my ability is.

“If I spend some time in the wicket, then I have a shot-making ability in spin and pace and I know that I can definitely contribute well to the team. I can win the match. This is also a reality. There are definitely a lot of downs happening but the upside is also really good. So I kept telling myself that.”

Handling failure

Samson, who turns 30 on Monday, has often been criticised for not fulfilling his potential despite abundant talent. He had scored successive ducks in Sri Lanka but responded with a 111 against Bangladesh in the third T20I and followed it up with another ton on Friday.

The Kerala batter acknowledged the crucial support he received from captain Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir during his low phase.

“When you have a supporting captain like Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam bhai and VVS Laxman sir, they all support you during failures. The way they communicate with you in your failures is very important. Everyone knows that if we are going through a negative phase, then the player can get lost there,” he said.

“So at that time, I received a lot of phone calls from Gautam bhai and Surya, telling me what to work on. Your spin is a little bit like that. You collect all the spinners in Kerala and practice in rough wickets there. You do this, you do that.

“So if your Indian team’s captain is calling you and telling you how to practice after a duck, then you have confidence that the captain is trusting you. He wants you to do well. So I think all those small, small things plays a huge role, I think, coming back here,” Samson said.

“I’m very grateful about the trust shown on me. I think I’ve been able to give it back to my team management. I feel that it’s just a start. I would like to just practice hard, train hard, just be very grateful walking out to play for my country and just look to contribute and win games for my country every time I walk in.” His innings included as many as 10 monstrous sixes which propelled India to 202 for 8 in 20 overs.

“When you score 100 for your country, it’s definitely a very special feeling. The wicket was a little more bounced, a little spongy in the beginning. It’s been raining here for 3-4 days, so I think it was a bit more challenging condition,” Samson said.

“So according to that, we are talking to the team and we are preparing accordingly. Even when it rained for 3-4 days, our team came here and practiced. We did batting for 2-3 hours, so it was a little beneficial.”

“We’re the World Champions, need to play like that”

Samson said they are focused on playing an aggressive brand of cricket, regardless of conditions, to live up to their reputation as world champions.

“What we have been talking in the dressing room from so many seasons right after winning the World Cup or even from last 2-3 years is even if you lose the toss and even the conditions are tough, we have to go all in.

“We can’t think that we will have to look for something like 160-170 in these wickets because I think chasing becomes a bit easier. We were just looking to attack even knowing that the condition is slightly helping the bowlers,” he said.

“We are definitely the world champions at the moment. So I think we have to play like that and just keep on looking to dominate in this format.”