By winning all four matches in the group stage of the T20 World Cup 2026, South Africa has shown that its reaching the final of the last edition was not a coincidence. Under the captaincy of Aiden Markram, the Proteas team topped the group which was being called the ‘Group of Death’. South Africa was placed in Group D along with New Zealand, Afghanistan, UAE and Canada. They started their campaign by defeating Canada by 57 runs. After this he collided with Afghanistan.
The Proteas team took its first step into the Super-8 by defeating Afghanistan in a match that went to two super overs each in Ahmedabad. Then he defeated New Zealand and secured his place in the next round. South Africa easily defeated UAE’s challenge in Delhi on Wednesday and finished the group stage unbeaten. Now he is going to face Team India on Sunday, which will be the toughest test for him till now.
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South Africa is facing problems like India
South Africa’s strong point in batting is its top-3. Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock are providing excellent starts. Ryan Rickleton is also batting well at number-3. These three batsmen together have scored 441 runs. Whereas all the remaining batsmen have been able to score only 229 runs. These figures are reminiscent of that Indian team, when Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli used to score 70-80 percent of the team’s runs and the middle order did not get that much opportunity.
The Proteas team is also facing a similar problem. Although their middle order batsmen have got a chance but they have not been able to do anything special. Barring Markram-De Kock-Rickleton, no South African batsman has been able to even touch the 40-run mark let alone a half-century. Dewald Brevis has been able to score only 86 runs in 4 matches and his strike rate has been only 128.35. Tristan Stubbs and David Miller have also failed to make their mark.
The Indian team will try to destroy South Africa’s top-3 in the powerplay itself, so that it can put more pressure on its under-fire middle order. For this, the opening spell of Arshdeep Singh will be important. If he is successful in taking wickets in the first two overs, then the Proteas team can be restricted to a small score. In this tournament, South Africa’s lower order has not been talked about but if runs are not coming from the top, they too can disintegrate under pressure.
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Rabada is proving to be the weak link
This tournament has been very bad so far for veteran fast bowler Kagiso Rabada. Be it an expensive spell against a team like Canada or bowling two no-balls in the last over against Afghanistan, Rabada has looked completely colorless. He played all four group matches and bowled his quota of 4 overs every time but was able to take only 2 wickets. Rabada’s economy was 8.61. This shows that he is neither achieving success nor is he able to control the opposition batsmen. The South African team can drop him in the match against India.
Left arm spin all-rounder George Linde can be played in place of Rabada, because the India-South Africa match in Ahmedabad is going to be played on a black soil pitch, which will help the spinners. In the absence of Rabada, Lungi Ngidi will lead the pace attack. He has taken 8 wickets in 3 matches. He will be supported by Marco Jansson and Corbin Bosch.
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