AI Simulation, IND-C vs SA-C | Yuvraj Singh's captaincy knock guides India Champions to beat South Africa Champions by 14 runs

Pitch and Weather

The surface of the County Ground in Northampton was flat and hard, which made it easy for the batters to execute a few big knocks in the first half of the game. The wicket helped the bowlers in the second innings.

Northampton’s weather had a minimal cloud cover, with dry atmosphere; however, there were no interruptions during the entire game.

Toss

India Champions won the toss and decided to bat first, which worked for them as they posted a decent and defendable total.

Lineups

IND-C XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa (WK), Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh (C), Ambati Rayudu, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, R Vinay Kumar.

SA-C XI: Richard Levi, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers (C), Sarel Erwee, JP Duminy, JJ Smuts, Morne van Wyk (WK), Wayne Parnell, Hardus Viljoen, Chris Morris, Aaron Phangiso.

Match Report

Batting first, India lost their two wickets early at the team’s score of 46 runs in 5.5 overs. Robin Uthappa (18 off 12 balls) and Suresh Raina (9 off 11 balls) gave brief support to the veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan (36 off 26 balls). Before getting dismissed, Dhawan stitched a 25-run partnership with Yuvraj Singh for the third wicket. Then came the crucial 55-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Yuvraj (58 off 36 balls) and Ambati Rayudu (27 off 20 balls). Furthermore, Yusuf Pathan’s 24 (13) in the end helped India Champions post 182/6 in 20 overs. Chris Morris of SA Champs claimed two big wickets of Uthappa and Yuvraj, alongside a wicket each picked by Wayne Parnell and Aaron Phangiso.

While chasing the target, the SA Champs’ batters looked clueless against the Indian bowling attack, except for skipper 31-ball 49 scored by skipper AB de Villiers. He had a little support from Richard Levi (23 off 13 balls) and JP Duminy’s 25 (20), which couldn’t be enough for the South Africa Champions to cross the line in the entire 20 overs. They were restricted to the total of 168/9, facing their first defeat in the tournament’s current edition. India’s pace duo of Irfan Pathan and Stuart Binny bowled economical spells, alongside sharing four wickets between them. The veteran spinner Piyush Chawla also claimed two crucial wickets of Sarel Erwee and Morne van Wyk.

Player of the Match

India Champions’ skipper and star all-rounder Yuvraj Singh won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his match-winning knock of 58 runs off 36 balls,  hitting four fours and as many sixes.

Scorecard