Published By: Rohit Chatterjee

SA vs. IND T20I: India’s 2nd T20I Defeat Calls for the Last Time India Lost or Drew a T20I Series

While India won the first game by a massive margin, the men in blue fell short in the second game of the ongoing T20I series

After lifting the ICC T20I World Cup, India kept its foot on the pedal by whitewashing Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the T20I series. Both series witnessed India winning all three games, but unfortunately, this has not been the case in the ongoing T20I series against South Africa. Having won the first game by a massive margin, India faltered in the second match despite Varun Chakaravarthy’s brilliant fifer. 

Given the four-game series is now tied with one game each going in India’s and South Africa’s favour, it will be interesting to see if India can win the next to seal the series. Having said that, given the present tricky situation, we rewind the clock at this juncture and take a look at the last time when we lost and drew a T20I series.

The last draw

India’s last T20I series draw was against the Proteas in India’s 2023 Tour of South Africa. Played between December 10 and December 14, rain played a crucial role as the first game was completely abandoned with a ball getting delivered.

The second game saw India put up a score of 180, thanks to two super knocks by Suryakumar Yadav and heavy-hitter Rinku Singh. However, despite their efforts, South Africa chased down the target as Reeza Hendricks added 49 off 27, and Aiden Markram added 30 runs in 17 balls. South Africa won the game with five wickets in hand and seven balls remaining.

In the third game, India finally bounced back and showcased its dominance. Batting first, Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 60 off 41 balls, but the highlight of the innings was Yadav’s 100 in 56 balls, which comprised eight sixes at a strike rate of 178.57. Six of India’s batsmen went back to the pavilion with single digits, but the scores by Jaiswal and Yadav were enough to post a target of 201 for South Africa.

In the second innings, the South African batters quickly faltered against Kuldeep Yadav, who ploughed through the lineup to pick five wickets. The entire lineup was all out in 95 runs, and India won the game by 106 runs to tie the series.

India bows down against the Indies

The West Indies may have lost the golden touch in the last decade, not having a great deal of success in ODIs and Test cricket. However, the country started banking on T20Is, producing T20 legends, and in the process, lifted two ICC T20 World Cups. Therefore, when India lost the T20I series in 2023, played in the West Indies and the United States of America, it wasn’t a big shocker.

The West Indies won the first two games, whereas India bounced back in the 3rd and 4th games. The deciding fifth game saw India posting 165 runs, but in response, Brandon King hit 85 runs in 55 balls, including six sixes. Nicholas Pooran also pitched in, adding 47 runs in 35 balls, while Shai Hope played 13 deliveries to score 22 runs. West Indies finished the game in the 18th over and sealed the series. Romario Shepherd was the highest wicket-taker with nine wickets to his name, whereas Pooran was the highest run-getter with 176 runs in the series.

India clashes against South Africa for the 3rd game on November 13, and it is vital that players such as Abhishek Sharma and Rinku Singh also fire their guns, given that in the first two games, they have not been involved in the action.