In a thrilling encounter which served as an appetizer to the ICC World T20, South Africa prevailed over India in a warm-up match here at the Wankhede Stadium. Despite some brilliant batting by Shikhar Dhawan and MS Dhoni, the Proteas showed enough resolve to sneak home by 4 runs.
Not surprisingly, a raucous crowd greeted both captains as they walked out to the toss. Faf du Plessis called correctly and opted to bat first on a hard surface.
After a tidy opening over from Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were amongst the wickets early. Bumrah troubled the in-form Hashim Amla with his awkward angle and induced an edge from the experienced batsman.
Shami joined in on the act when he foxed du Plessis who could only manage to find Ravindra Jadeja. The visitors found themselves in a spot of bother at 35/2 when the first four overs came to an end.
However, de Kock and JP Duminy turned things around with a thrilling counter-attack. The left-handed duo were particularly severe on the young Bumrah as runs started to leak from all corners.
Dhoni turned to spin in a bid to stifle the burgeoning run-rate. But, the South Africans were relentless in their approach as they took on the left-arm spin of Pawan Negi. Having conceded 95 runs from the first ten, the Indians were under a lot of pressure.
The wicket-keeper batsman continued his affinity for Indian bowlers with a half-century before the team management decided to give the middle-order a go. David Miller joined Duminy in the middle and made his intent pretty clear.
However, Hardik Pandya chipped in with a timely wicket by getting rid of the dangerous Miller. In a heartening performance, the all-rounder swung the momentum with a double strike in his very next over.
The flurry of wickets in the death overs ensured that India prevented the Proteas from breaching the 200 barrier. With a tough target to chase, the home team needed a brisk start from the openers.
Dhawan and Raina help India recover
But, the pursuit began in a disastrous fashion with key batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli being dismissed cheaply by the South African fast bowlers. Ajinkya Rahane walked in eager to make a mark.
Failing to grab a golden opportunity to showcase his credentials, Rahane was castled by Imran Tahir. Meanwhile at the other end, Dhawan was looking to expand his repertoire and play the anchor role.
Aaron Phangiso’s entry helped Suresh Raina to settle down and rotate the strike. Slowly, he found his groove as David Wiese's inconsistent bowling brought down the equation to 76 off the last 7 overs.
Dale Steyn and Kyle Abbott attempted to stifle the home team even as reinforcements arrived. MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh replaced the set batsmen to provide the finishing touches.
The Indian skipper duly plundered 15 runs off Steyn to ease the nerves. But with 10 runs required from the final two deliveries, Chris Morris had the last laugh as he bowled with accuracy to deny the hosts.
Earlier, India had defeated the West Indies by 45 runs at the Eden Gardens in their initial practice match. Having warmed-up with a couple of tussles, the hosts will head into Nagpur where they begin their campaign against New Zealand on March 15.
Brief Scores: South Africa 196/8 (Duminy 67, de Kock 56*, Pandya 3-36); India 192/3 (Dhawan 73*, Raina 41*, Tahir 1-25)
Result: South Africa won by 4 runs
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