India stutter at 29/3 in 5 overs in chase of SA's 188

Ahmedabad, Feb 22 (PTI) India star opener Abhishek Sharma finally opened his account in the T20 World Cup after three successive ducks but a stunning catch ended his stay for 15 as India were 29 for three after five overs in their chase oof 188, in their Group 1 Super Eights clash against South Africa, here on Sunday.

Aiden Markram struck with his off-spin to dismiss the in-form Ishan Kishan for a four-ball duck.

Three balls later, Tilak Varma charged Marco Jansen but inside-edged onto his pads, with the review confirming a spike as he fell for 1.

But skipper Suryakumar Yadav countered immediately, striking Jansen for two crisp boundaries to ease the pressure.

Abhishek, meanwhile, broke his run of ducks with a boundary off Markram before taking on Kagiso Rabada.

He upper-cut a short ball over the wicketkeeper for six and then punished a wide full toss through cover point as India regained momentum.

But a stunning catch by Corbin Bosch ended Abhishek's stay for 15 (12 balls; 2x4, 1x6) as he couldnt convert his start.

Earlier, David Miller rolled back the years with exhilarating strokes but Jasprit Bumrah's superb bowling restricted South Africa to 187/7.

Miller struck 63 off 35 balls and got fine support from young Dewald Brevis (45 off 29 balls) as the duo led a recovery act in a 97-run fourth-wicket stand that came off just 51 balls.

Bumrah (3/15 in 4 overs) and Arshdeep Singh (2/28 in 4 overs) had reduced the Proteas to 20/3 inside the first four overs after they opted to bat. PTI TAP PDS PDS