India vs South Africa T20I Head-to-Head: Record & Results
Written and checked by CricketTakenPublished Cricket in India15 min read
India lead South Africa 21-14 in Twenty20 internationals, from thirty-six completed matches between December 2006 and February 2026, with one no result and no tie. It is a fixture that leans towards landslides: seven of the thirty-six have been decided by fifty runs or more, and the two largest margins on either side have both come since November 2024.
It also holds two of the format's set-piece occasions for India. The World T20 semi-final at Mirpur in April 2014 was a South Africa defeat, and so was the T20 World Cup final at Bridgetown on 29 June 2024, which India won by seven runs after Hardik Pandya bowled David Miller's pull straight into Suryakumar Yadav's hands at long-off. Between them the two sides have met eight times at World T20s and T20 World Cups, and India have won five.
The oddity in the ledger is geography. India's record in South Africa is 9-4; their record at home against South Africa is 8-8 with a washed-out no result. South Africa did not play a Twenty20 international in India at all until October 2015, and since then they have won as many in India as India have.
Twenty years, thirty-six matches
To the T20 World Cup meeting at Ahmedabad on 22 February 2026.
| Venue type | Matches | India won | South Africa won | No result | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In India | 17 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 2015-2026 |
| In South Africa | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 2006-2024 |
| Neutral | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2009-2024 |
| All T20Is | 36 | 21 | 14 | 1 | 2006-2026 |
Four further fixtures were abandoned without a ball bowled that counted towards a result — Kolkata in October 2015, Dharamsala in September 2019, Durban in December 2023 and Lucknow in December 2025 — so forty fixtures were scheduled and thirty-six produced a match.
South Africa did not play a Twenty20 international in India until October 2015, nine years after the fixture began, which is why the home span starts so late. The first eight meetings were all in South Africa or at ICC events, and India won six of them.
The fixture has moved in three phases
| Period | Matches | India won | South Africa won | No result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-2014 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 2015-2019 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 2020-2026 | 21 | 12 | 8 | 1 |
More than half the fixture has been played since 2022. The middle period is the only one South Africa have won, and it is a small sample built largely on the 2015 tour of India, when they took the two completed Twenty20 internationals at Dharamsala and Cuttack.
The volume of the third period reflects how the T20I calendar changed after every ICC member's matches were given full status: nine India-South Africa T20Is were played in 2022 alone, across two separate series either side of that year's World Cup. The wider arc of India's short-format record is on the T20 international history page.
November 2024, and 283 for 1
| Total | Team | Overs | Result | Ground | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 283/1 | India | 20 | won | Johannesburg | 15 Nov 2024 |
| 237/3 | India | 20 | won | Guwahati | 2 Oct 2022 |
| 231/5 | India | 20 | won | Ahmedabad | 19 Dec 2025 |
| 227/3 | South Africa | 20 | won | Indore | 4 Oct 2022 |
| 221/3 | South Africa | 20 | lost | Guwahati | 2 Oct 2022 |
| 219/6 | India | 20 | won | Centurion | 13 Nov 2024 |
| 219/4 | South Africa | 20 | won | Johannesburg | 30 Mar 2012 |
| 213/4 | South Africa | 20 | won | New Chandigarh | 11 Dec 2025 |
| 212/3 | South Africa | 19.1 | won | Delhi | 9 Jun 2022 |
| 211/4 | India | 20 | lost | Delhi | 9 Jun 2022 |
India's 283 for 1 at the Wanderers on 15 November 2024 is the highest total in the fixture by fifty-six runs and the second-highest India have made in any Twenty20 international, behind the 297 for 6 against Bangladesh at Hyderabad a month earlier. It was the fourth match of a four-match series and the fourth Indian century of that series.
| Batter | Score | Balls | Ground | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanju Samson | 107 | 50 | Durban | 8 Nov 2024 |
| Tilak Varma | 107* | 56 | Centurion | 13 Nov 2024 |
| Sanju Samson | 109* | 56 | Johannesburg | 15 Nov 2024 |
| Tilak Varma | 120* | 47 | Johannesburg | 15 Nov 2024 |
Samson and Tilak Varma scored two hundreds each in eight days, and the last two came in the same innings, which is why 283 for 1 lost only a single wicket. Tilak's 120 not out off 47 balls is the highest individual score in the fixture. India won that match by 135 runs, which is their largest Twenty20 win over South Africa and the biggest margin the fixture has produced. Where these totals sit among India's records is set out on the pages for India's highest T20I team totals and India's biggest T20I wins by runs.
Eight meetings at World T20s and T20 World Cups
| Tournament | Date | Ground | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| World T20 2007 | 20 Sep 2007 | Durban | India won by 37 runs |
| World T20 2009 | 16 Jun 2009 | Nottingham | South Africa won by 12 runs |
| World T20 2010 | 2 May 2010 | Gros Islet | India won by 14 runs |
| World T20 2012 | 2 Oct 2012 | Colombo (RPS) | India won by 1 run |
| World T20 2014 semi-final | 4 Apr 2014 | Mirpur | India won by 6 wickets |
| T20 World Cup 2022 | 30 Oct 2022 | Perth | South Africa won by 5 wickets |
| T20 World Cup 2024 final | 29 Jun 2024 | Bridgetown | India won by 7 runs |
| T20 World Cup 2026 | 22 Feb 2026 | Ahmedabad | South Africa won by 76 runs |
India have won five of the eight, and the two that mattered most. The Mirpur semi-final of 2014 sent India to a World T20 final; the Bridgetown final of 2024 gave them the title, and is covered on the 2024 T20 World Cup page. The Colombo match of 2012 is the strangest entry: India won by a single run, which was not enough to take them past the Super Eights on net run rate.
South Africa's three wins are spread across seventeen years and three continents, and the most recent is the heaviest defeat India have taken in the fixture — 76 runs at Ahmedabad in February 2026, when India were bowled out for 111 chasing 188. That tournament is covered on the 2026 T20 World Cup page.
Series by series
| Series | Host | Matches | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | South Africa | 1 | India won |
| 2010-11 | South Africa | 1 | India won |
| 2011-12 | South Africa | 1 | South Africa won |
| 2015-16 | India | 2 (1 abandoned) | South Africa won 2-0 |
| 2017-18 | South Africa | 3 | India won 2-1 |
| 2019-20 | India | 2 (1 abandoned) | Drawn 1-1 |
| 2022 | India | 5 (1 no result) | Drawn 2-2 |
| 2022-23 | India | 3 | India won 2-1 |
| 2023-24 | South Africa | 2 (1 abandoned) | Drawn 1-1 |
| 2024-25 | South Africa | 4 | India won 3-1 |
| 2025-26 | India | 4 (1 abandoned) | India won 3-1 |
Eleven bilateral engagements, twenty-eight completed matches, India 16 wins to South Africa's 11. Three of the eleven were single matches tacked onto Test tours, and three of the last five have ended level. India have never lost a Twenty20 series in South Africa of more than one match; South Africa's only multi-match series win in the fixture is the 2-0 in India in 2015.
The 2025-26 series in India was the most recent bilateral rubber and the closest thing the fixture has produced to a complete swing: India won at Cuttack by 101 runs, lost at New Chandigarh by 51, then took Dharamsala and Ahmedabad to finish 3-1.
Cuttack has produced both collapses
Restricting the count to innings in which a side lost all ten wickets, these are the lowest totals either side has made.
| Total | Team | Overs | Result | Ground | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 74 | South Africa | 12.3 | lost | Cuttack | 9 Dec 2025 |
| 87 | South Africa | 16.5 | lost | Rajkot | 17 Jun 2022 |
| 92 | India | 17.2 | lost | Cuttack | 5 Oct 2015 |
| 95 | South Africa | 13.5 | lost | Johannesburg | 14 Dec 2023 |
| 111 | India | 18.5 | lost | Ahmedabad | 22 Feb 2026 |
| 117 | South Africa | 20.0 | lost | Dharamsala | 14 Dec 2025 |
| 131 | South Africa | 19.1 | lost | Visakhapatnam | 14 Jun 2022 |
| 141 | South Africa | 17.5 | lost | Durban | 8 Nov 2024 |
Six of the eight belong to South Africa, and India's 92 at Cuttack in October 2015 was made at the same ground where South Africa were bowled out for 74 ten years later. India have lost all ten wickets four times in the fixture and South Africa eight, though several of those came chasing a target already out of reach. The Barabati Stadium's wider record is on its Cuttack records page.
Batting: Tilak Varma and David Miller
India's leading run scorers against South Africa in T20Is.
| Batter | Span | Mat | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tilak Varma | 2023-2026 | 11 | 497 | 120* | 62.12 | 162.41 | 2 |
| Rohit Sharma | 2007-2024 | 18 | 429 | 106 | 26.81 | 130.00 | 1 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | 2022-2026 | 16 | 424 | 100 | 30.28 | 150.35 | 1 |
| Virat Kohli | 2011-2024 | 14 | 394 | 76 | 39.40 | 133.10 | 0 |
| Hardik Pandya | 2018-2026 | 21 | 391 | 63 | 39.10 | 138.16 | 0 |
| Suresh Raina | 2006-2018 | 12 | 339 | 101 | 33.90 | 148.03 | 1 |
| Sanju Samson | 2024-2025 | 5 | 253 | 109* | 63.25 | 190.22 | 2 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 2015-2019 | 7 | 233 | 72 | 33.28 | 141.21 | 0 |
South Africa's leading run scorers against India.
| Batter | Span | Mat | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Miller | 2011-2026 | 29 | 626 | 106* | 34.77 | 149.04 | 1 |
| Quinton de Kock | 2014-2026 | 16 | 513 | 90 | 39.46 | 148.26 | 0 |
| Heinrich Klaasen | 2018-2024 | 14 | 342 | 81 | 26.30 | 162.08 | 0 |
| Aiden Markram | 2022-2026 | 16 | 331 | 61 | 22.06 | 129.80 | 0 |
| JP Duminy | 2009-2018 | 10 | 295 | 68* | 59.00 | 121.90 | 0 |
| Reeza Hendricks | 2018-2025 | 17 | 291 | 70 | 18.18 | 118.29 | 0 |
David Miller has played the fixture more often than anyone on either side and scored more runs in it than anyone, and his 626 came at 34.77 with thirty-nine sixes. Quinton de Kock has six fifties against India without ever converting one. Rilee Rossouw's 100 not out at Indore in October 2022 is South Africa's other century in the fixture, made off 48 balls in the innings that produced their record 227 for 3.
The Indian list is the more concentrated one. Tilak Varma averages 62.12 at a strike rate above 160 from eleven matches; Sanju Samson's 253 runs came in five. Set against that, Rohit Sharma's eighteen matches produced 429 runs at 26.81, and Virat Kohli's fourteen produced no century, his highest being the 76 at Bridgetown that decided the 2024 final.
Bowling: Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep, Ngidi
India's leading wicket takers against South Africa in T20Is.
| Bowler | Span | Mat | Wkts | Best | Ave | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arshdeep Singh | 2022-2026 | 15 | 25 | 3/20 | 18.48 | 8.88 |
| Varun Chakaravarthy | 2024-2026 | 9 | 23 | 5/17 | 12.91 | 8.48 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 2014-2022 | 12 | 14 | 5/24 | 18.50 | 6.69 |
| Hardik Pandya | 2018-2026 | 21 | 14 | 3/20 | 37.71 | 9.10 |
| Axar Patel | 2015-2025 | 18 | 13 | 2/6 | 30.30 | 8.41 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 2011-2022 | 10 | 11 | 3/22 | 26.18 | 7.20 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 2018-2026 | 7 | 10 | 3/15 | 18.30 | 6.77 |
South Africa's leading wicket takers against India.
| Bowler | Span | Mat | Wkts | Best | Ave | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keshav Maharaj | 2022-2026 | 17 | 18 | 3/24 | 25.77 | 8.75 |
| Lungi Ngidi | 2022-2026 | 10 | 16 | 4/29 | 17.43 | 8.28 |
| Marco Jansen | 2022-2026 | 12 | 13 | 4/22 | 29.92 | 8.48 |
| Wayne Parnell | 2009-2022 | 11 | 9 | 3/15 | 33.88 | 7.65 |
| Kagiso Rabada | 2015-2026 | 14 | 9 | 3/39 | 43.33 | 7.50 |
| Anrich Nortje | 2019-2025 | 12 | 8 | 2/26 | 40.00 | 8.64 |
Varun Chakaravarthy's twenty-three wickets at 12.91 is the best average of any bowler with ten or more wickets in the fixture. It has produced exactly three five-wicket returns, all Indian and all in the second innings: Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 5 for 24 at Johannesburg in February 2018, Kuldeep Yadav's 5 for 17 off 2.5 overs at the same ground in December 2023, and Chakaravarthy's 5 for 17 at Gqeberha in November 2024, in a match India lost by three wickets. No South African has taken five against India in the format; the best is Marco Jansen's 4 for 22 at Ahmedabad in February 2026. Bhuvneshwar's economy rate of 6.69 across twelve matches is the tightest of any bowler with ten wickets here, in a fixture where India have scored at 8.68 an over.
Kagiso Rabada's row is the surprise on the South African side: fourteen matches, nine wickets at 43.33, in a fixture in which Lungi Ngidi has taken sixteen at 17.43 from ten. Keshav Maharaj leads the wicket count with eighteen from seventeen matches, which is the highest tally for a spinner on either side.
The last ten matches
Most recent first.
| Date | Ground | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Feb 2026 | Ahmedabad | South Africa won by 76 runs |
| 19 Dec 2025 | Ahmedabad | India won by 30 runs |
| 14 Dec 2025 | Dharamsala | India won by 7 wickets |
| 11 Dec 2025 | New Chandigarh | South Africa won by 51 runs |
| 9 Dec 2025 | Cuttack | India won by 101 runs |
| 15 Nov 2024 | Johannesburg | India won by 135 runs |
| 13 Nov 2024 | Centurion | India won by 11 runs |
| 10 Nov 2024 | Gqeberha | South Africa won by 3 wickets |
| 8 Nov 2024 | Durban | India won by 61 runs |
| 29 Jun 2024 | Bridgetown | India won by 7 runs |
Seven India, three South Africa, and six of the ten decided by fifty runs or more. The pattern across the whole fixture is the same: it produces landslides rather than last-over finishes, and the two sides have never tied a Twenty20 international.
What the fixture keeps producing
- India lead 21-14, but the split by country is the wrong way round. They are 9-4 in South Africa and 8-8 at home, the only major opponent against whom they have not won a majority of their T20Is in India.
- Margins are wide. Seven of the thirty-six matches were decided by fifty runs or more, and five of those seven have come since June 2022, including the fixture's two record margins: India by 135 at Johannesburg and South Africa by 76 at Ahmedabad.
- The four centuries of November 2024 are the fixture's defining sequence, and two of them came in the same innings.
- India's ICC-event record here, 5-3, is much closer than their record against most opponents at World T20s, and South Africa's three wins came at Nottingham, Perth and Ahmedabad rather than at home.
- South Africa collapse in this fixture more often than India do. They have been bowled out eight times to India's four, and their 74 at Cuttack in December 2025 is the lowest total either side has made.
- Spin has done the damage on both sides. Varun Chakaravarthy and Keshav Maharaj hold the best average and the highest wicket tally respectively, in a format usually decided by seam.
The Test record between the two, which runs the other way outside India, is on the India versus South Africa Test head-to-head, and the fifty-over record on the India versus South Africa ODI head-to-head. Everything else is indexed from cricket in India.
Sources and method
Every figure here was read from ESPNcricinfo's Statsguru, filtered to men's Twenty20 internationals between India and South Africa, and checked on 20 August 2026. The most recent match at that date was the T20 World Cup group game at Ahmedabad on 22 February 2026.
The venue split uses Statsguru's home, away and neutral classification, and its three rows sum to the overall line — 36 matches, 21 India wins, 14 South Africa wins, one no result. The three-period table was built by grouping the full match-results list by year of start and checks against the same totals. The four abandoned fixtures appear in the forty-match scheduled list but not in the thirty-six-match ledger, which is why those two counts differ.
The series table was assembled from the match-by-match result list rather than from a published series summary. Its twenty-eight completed matches and 16-11 split, added to the eight ICC-event meetings and their 5-3 split, reconcile with the overall ledger. Single Twenty20 internationals played as an appendix to a Test or ODI tour are shown as one-match engagements rather than series.
The lowest-totals table is restricted to innings in which a side lost all ten wickets, so shortened innings and completed chases below those figures are excluded. Batting and bowling tables are ordered by aggregate runs and wickets, and where the prose compares averages, economy rates or strike rates it states the sample floor being used, because in a thirty-six-match fixture a rate from three matches is not comparable with one from twenty. Nothing on this page was computed from ball-by-ball data, and the figures are accurate to the date given rather than permanently.