The article speaks about the success of Indian batsmen against the bowlers of South Africa in the semi-finals of T20 World Cup held in Bangladesh on 4th April, 2014.
In the entire T20 World cup in Bangladesh, the first time any team had challenged the Indian team, it was South Africa in the semi-finals on 4th April, 2014. It was a very closely contested match. India ended in the winning side by showing their crafty batting skills.
South African batsmen including DuPlessis, Duminy, Hashim Amla and others did good batting. Du Plessis scored 58 runs, while Duminy was unbeaten with 45 runs. The score of 172 was a very good score in the playing conditions of Bangladesh. But the Indian batsmen were too good for the South African bowlers.
Firstly India started off very well.
There was no striking spinner in South African side who could really do damage to the top order. Imran Tahir had been successful against other teams. But before India he failed absolutely. He got a wicket, but neither his spin balls nor the googlies were effective. One of the reasons may be the ability of Indian batsmen to use their feet against leg-spinners.
Rohit Sharma gave a splendid start. His 24 runs came against 13 balls with 4 boundaries and an over-boundary. AM Rahane’s 32 runs were equally helpful for India to get past 100 runs without pressure. The biggest problem of South Africa came with the failure of Dale Steyn to give them early breakthroughs. Once Steyn failed, all the other bowlers look ordinary including Parnell, Morkell and others.
Virat Kohli had developed his skills as a great finishers. He did not lose his temperament. He was unbeaten on 72 and majority of his runs came from crafty shots like flick shot. He never slogged. He was given able support by Yuvraaj Singh with this quick fire 18 runs and Suresh Raina with his quick fire 21 runs. In fact Suresh Raina’s 21 runs of 8 deliveries took the match in India’s favour altogether with 3 fours and 1 six. South Africa’s challenge ended all together.
This was the first match, where India’s spin bowlers did not make the difference, it was the batsmen who rose up to the occasion. Amit Mishra went for runs. Ashwin got 3 wickets but did not look as a threat. But India felt the absence of best pace bowler Mohammad Shami. Mohit Sharma is no match to Shami. In the finals against South Africa India requires the skills of Shami to create challenge for Sri Lanka. In the semi-finals Dhoni used Raina for 4 overs, it will be very dangerous against Sri Lanka who are much better players of spin-bowling.
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