India beat South Africa by 30 runs in a T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up match at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Tuesday. Ishan Kishan smashed 53 runs off 20 balls as India posted 240 for five wickets. South Africa replied with 210 for seven in their 20 overs. The match saw 450 runs scored between the two teams.
India won the toss and chose to bat first. The match started at 7 PM IST under lights. Both teams used the warm-up game to test their squad depth ahead of the tournament starting on February 7.
Kishan’s Explosive Start
Ishan Kishan came out all guns blazing at the top of the order. He hit seven sixes and two fours in his 20-ball knock. His strike rate sat at 265. Kishan retired after getting to 53 runs. That was a tactical move to give other batters time in the middle before the World Cup starts.
Abhishek Sharma opened with Kishan. The two put on 80 runs for the first wicket. Abhishek made 24 off 18 balls before retiring hurt. That is different from Kishan, who retired out by choice. The opening stand set India up for a big total.
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India Post 240 After Strong Contributions
Tilak Varma walked in and continued the attack. He made 45 runs off just 19 balls. Tilak was returning from an injury. His knock showed he is ready for the main tournament. Captain Suryakumar Yadav added 30 runs off 16 balls in the middle order.
Axar Patel stayed till the end unbeaten on 35 runs off 23 balls. Hardik Pandya provided the late fireworks with 30 runs off just 10 balls. His strike rate touched 300. Rinku Singh got hit on the helmet by a Corbin Bosch bouncer but stayed in to score 16 runs. India reached 240 for five in their 20 overs at a run rate of 12 runs per over, building on their earlier India warm-up win against the USA.
South Africa Fights But Falls Short
South Africa needed 241 to win. They lost George Linde for a duck in the first over. Arshdeep Singh bowled him. Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs tried to keep South Africa in the hunt. Rickelton made 44 off 21 balls. Stubbs stayed unbeaten on 45 runs off 21 balls.
Captain Aiden Markram scored 38 off 19 balls before retiring out. He also wanted to test his squad. Jason Smith added 35 runs off 23 balls. Marco Jansen hit 31 off 16 balls lower down the order. South Africa kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Abhishek Sharma took two wickets for 32 runs. Axar Patel bowled brilliantly and took one wicket while giving away just two runs. His economy rate was 2.00. That was the best bowling figures of the match. Varun Chakravarthy picked up one wicket for 12 runs. Arshdeep got one wicket for 29 runs.
South Africa finished on 210 for seven. They fell 30 runs short. Their run rate was 10.50 per over. That was quick, but not quick enough to catch up to 240.
Tournament Starts This Week
The T20 World Cup 2026 begins on February 7. India plays their first match against the USA at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. South Africa takes on Canada at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Both teams are using these warm-up games to settle on their best playing eleven.
Sanju Samson did not play in this warm-up match. He scored 46 runs across five matches in the recent T20I series against New Zealand. Despite that form, he was left out of the playing eleven for this game. The team management wanted to test other combinations, as per the India schedule details announced earlier.
Kishan retiring out and Markram retiring out showed both teams are thinking about squad rotation. Warm-up matches let captains give everyone a hit or a bowl. India defended their total comfortably in the end. The 450 combined runs across both innings made it the highest-scoring warm-up match so far this week.
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