IND vs SA: After Hardik’s Impeccable Innings, Bowlers Dominate as India Blow Away the Proteas by 101 Runs

Udaipur, Dec 10, 2025: India beat South Africa by 74 runs in the Cuttack T20 on December 9. India is the world champion in the shortest format of cricket. After winning the World Cup in 2024, they have lost only four matches. Once again, India proved its dominance in the shortest format of the game. Team India defeated South Africa in a one-sided match at the Barabati Stadium. First, Hardik Pandya played an impeccable innings. Then, with a strong bowling performance, India won the match by 101 runs. South Africa was all out for just 74 runs.

India lost the toss again on Tuesday. As expected, South Africa chose to bowl first. Batting first, Team India had a poor start. Vice-captain Shubman Gill got out in the first over. He has been failing continuously in T20Is, so the pressure will now increase on him. Captain Suryakumar Yadav also failed in this match. India was under pressure after losing two wickets for just 17 runs. Then Tilak Verma and Axar Patel tried to rebuild the innings, but neither of them could increase the run rate.

Hardik’s Knock and Bowlers’ Brilliance Seal India’s Big Win

Hardik Pandya had to take responsibility when he came in to bat. At that time, India was under pressure at 78 for 4. From there, the fight began. He played a brilliant innings of 59 runs off just 28 balls. He hit six boundaries and four sixes. It was mainly because of Hardik’s innings that Team India reached a total of 175 runs.

At that time, it felt that this total might not be enough because of the dew on the Cuttack ground. But the Indian bowlers broke that belief from the very first over. Arshdeep Singh took the wicket of de Kock early. After that, Markram, Stubbs, Miller, and Ferreira all failed. Except for Brevis, who scored 22 runs, no batter crossed the 20-run mark.

Because of this, South Africa never gained momentum. Their batters were in too much of a hurry and lost their wickets quickly. The Proteas were all out for just 74 runs in only 12.5 overs.

Among the Indian bowlers, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, and Axar Patel took two wickets each. Hardik Pandya and Dubey took one wicket each. In this match, Bumrah also completed 100 wickets in his T20 career. He is now the only Indian bowler to take 100 wickets in all three formats of the game.

Brief Scores:

India: 175-6 (Hardik 59, Tilak 26)

South Africa: 74 (Brevis 22, Stubbs 14, Bumrah 2-17, Arshdeep 2-14)

India won by 101 runs.