India Vs South Africa, T20 World Cup 2026: Proteas Crush Hosts By 76 Runs As SKY Admits Powerplay Cost Them Game

India were humbled by South Africa in their ICC T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 opener, losing the much-anticipated Group 1 clash by 76 runs -- their biggest in the tournament's history. Soon after the fall of India's final wicket, captain Suryakumar Yadav tried to address what went wrong for the defending champions.

"If you're chasing 180-185, you can't win the game in the powerplay, but you might lose the game in the powerplay," Yadav told the official broadcaster.

South Africa captain Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bat first. Despite losing three wickets inside the powerplay, the Proteas still managed to post 187/7, and it proved more than enough against an Indian batting line-up that is blowing hot and cold.

India's batting fragility, often marked by the individual brilliance from Ishan Kishan, and to some extent, from skipper SKY and Shivam Dube, was exposed again. This time, against a disciplined South African attack, everything was laid bare.

Abhishek Sharma finally opened his World Cup account, but the joy didn't last long (15 off 12). Kishan got a four-ball duck, Tilak Verma lasted two balls for a single as India lost three in their batting powerplay.

"We lost too many wickets in the powerplay, and then we couldn't have small, small partnerships which we wanted," the skipper continued, adding: "We learn from it, we’ll sit back and then come back stronger.

"It became 51/5 in 9.1 overs, then the innings was folded with seven balls to spare. Shivam Dube (42 off 37) was the only batter to breach the 20-run mark.

Suryakumar Yadav was, however, emphatic about India's bowling.

"I feel we were always in the game when we started. I think we bowled really well in the beginning, 21 for 3, and the way they batted after that from 7 to 15, I think they batted really well, and then we came back again in the game later on," the 35-year-old added. "Overall, if we see, we bowled really well, but we could have batted a little better."

The defeat also ended their winning run at the T20 World Cup at 12.

Up next, both teams will take the field on Thursday. India will head to Chennai to take on Zimbabwe, while South Africa face the West Indies in Ahmedabad. All four teams were undefeated in the earlier stage and won their respective groups.