What happened the last time India played South Africa in a T20I in Durban?
India's multi-format tour to South Africa is about to kickstart with a three-match T20I series. The opening T20I of the series will be played at Kingsmead in Durban on Sunday, December 10.
Suryakumar Yadav, who led the Men in Blue to a 4-1 victory in the T20I series against Australia at home, will captain India in the shortest format.
Senior players, including the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Shubman Gill, have also returned to the squad following a breather after the ODI World Cup.
South Africa, meanwhile, will be led by Aiden Markram. While their white-ball team won't feature Temba Bavuma and Kagiso Rabada, the hosts will have enough firepower in their batting unit.
It should be a fascinating series, with both teams keeping an eye on next year's T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in the West Indies and U.S.A.
Situated on the eastern coast of the country, Kingsmead is a batting-friendly stadium. However, it also provides some assistance to slower bowlers as well. The average first-innings score after 18 T20Is in Durban has been 143.
Team India won the last T20I played against South Africa in Durban
![Team India players celebrating vs South Africa at T20 World Cup 2007 [Getty Images]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/12/4aa4b-17021549897552-1920.jpg?w=500)
Team India have played five T20Is at the Kingsmead in Durban. Interestingly, all those matches came at the T20 World Cup 2007, which they won by beating Pakistan in the final in Johannesburg.
India and South Africa have also clashed once in a T20I in Durban, where the former registered a 37-run triumph. It was the last match of the Super Eights stage but, most importantly, a must-win encounter for both teams.
MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat in Durban. Unfortunately, the Men in Blue's top order failed to fire as they were down to 33/3 in 5.1 overs.
A young Rohit Sharma then joined hands with captain Dhoni to rescue the team. Rohit showed a sense of maturity and remained unbeaten on 50. He smashed seven boundaries and two sixes, while Dhoni aggregated 45 runs as the duo took India to 153/5.
For South Africa, legendary pacer Shaun Pollock took two wickets for 17 runs in his four overs. Due to the permutations of the net run rate (NRR), South Africa had to score a minimum of 126 runs to qualify for the semifinals and knock India out of the tournament.
However, a fiery Indian pace bowler came out all guns blazing and wreaked havoc against a capable South African batting unit. All batters, including the likes of Herschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, and Justin Kemp, fell like a pack of cards as the hosts were 31/5 inside the powerplay.
Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel stabilized the innings somewhat. However, once Sreesanth (2/26) broke the deadlock by dismissing Boucher, India quickly wrapped up the lower order and restricted South Africa to 116/9 after 20 overs.
RP Singh was the star of the show, as he bagged four wickets for just 13 runs across his four overs.