Nagpur, March 12:South Africa beat India by three wickets in a hard fought Group B ICC World Cup game here at Jamtha, Nagpur today. South Africa managed to get past India’s score of 296 thanks to an all-round batting effort that saw effective contributions from their top, middle and lower order.
Chasing India’s target of 297, South Africa got off to a steady start. Their openers added 41 for the first wicket in 8.3 overs before Graeme Smith (16) was caught by Sachin Tendulkar at mid-off. Zaheer Khan was the bowler to give India the breakthrough.
Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla consolidated on that start and a passage of play followed where the pair kept the scoreboard ticking without playing a rash shot between them. The 100-run mark was brought up in 22.2 overs with Amla notching up his 13th ODI half-century shortly before that landmark.
Amla enjoyed a life when he was on 57, dropped by Yuvraj Singh at midwicket. But the opener could not build on that opportunity and was out, caught by wicketkeeper MS Dhoni, off Harbhajan’s bowling. Amla made 61.
Kallis, meanwhile, helped himself to yet another half-century in ODI cricket. The South Africa No. 3 batsman looked set to guide his team to victory but was run-out by a good piece of fielding by Harbhajan Singh standing in the deep. At the fall of Kallis’ wicket, South Africa were 173 for three, requiring 124 off the last 86 deliveries.
Then came the partnership that threatened to finish off the match in a flash for South Africa. Taking advantage of the Batting Powerplay (over 37.0 – 41.0), AB de Villiers and JP Duminy smashed 50 off just 26 deliveries. But Harbhajan Singh brought India right back into the game by getting rid of both de Villiers (52 off 39) and Duminy (23 off 20) in successive overs. Nine balls later Morne van Wyk (5) was trapped plumb in front by Munaf Patel. Having lost three quick wickets, South Africa were in the dire straits as the score read 247 for six in 44 overs.
But Johan Botha (23 off 15 balls), Faf du Plessis (25* off 23) and Rob Peterson (18* off 7 balls) held their nerve to take South Africa home with three wickets to spare.
Indiahave now lost to South Africa on all three occasions in World Cup competitions.
Earlier, MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat first on a tantalising Jamtha wicket full of runs. Virender Sehwag lofted the first delivery of the day bowled by Dale Steyn over mid-on to start off proceedings in style. That set the tone for the innings with both Sehwag and Sachin dominating the South African bowling attack like never before.
Both batsmen pulled and drove with confidence as India raced away to a score of 101 in just 12 overs. Sehwag brought up his half-century in just 44 deliveries while Tendulkar did so in 33. With all his bowlers being carted to different corners of the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium ground, Graeme Smith turned to Faf du Plessis who got Sehwag to play the ball on to the stumps off just his fourth delivery. The opener made 73 and at this stage India were 142 for one in 17.4 overs.
The Tendulkar show continued nevertheless. Of particular delight was a hook shot off Dale Steyn that went for six over deep backward square leg. Equally stunning were a couple of fours off Morkel that Tendulkar hit with a powerful slap off the front foot while connecting with the ball at chest height.
Tendulkar brought up his century in the 36th over of the Indian innings in just 92 deliveries with the score at 236. This was also his sixth century in World Cup competitions, his 48th ODI century and his 99th overall. The master was given good company by Gautam Gambhir who played a stroke-filled innings of 69. The two added 125 for the second wicket in just 22 overs and looked good to set up a big Indian score of 350 plus.
However, the fall of Tendulkar (111) proved to be the point of no return for the side. From a score of 267 for the loss of one wicket, India crashed to 296 all out. Nine wickets fell for the addition of just 39 runs in 10.1 overs as none of the remaining batsmen could build on the excellent platform provided by the top order. Yuvraj Singh (12) fell to Jacques Kallis while Virat Kohli (1) was caught and bowled by Rob Peterson. Dale Steyn did most of the damage for South Africa sending Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan (0), Harbhajan Singh (3), Ashish Nehra (0) and Munaf Patel (0) back in quick succession. At the end of the innings, captain Dhoni was stranded without a partner on 12, witness to one of the biggest batting collapses of the side in recent times, which perhaps cost India the game.
Brief Scores: South Africa 300 for 7 in 49.4 overs (Jacques Kallis 69, Hashim Amla 61, AB de Villiers 52, Harbhajan Singh 3/53) beatIndia 296 all out in 48.4 overs (Sachin Tendulkar 111, Virender Sehwag 73, Gautam Gambhir 69, Dale Steyn 5/50) by three wickets
Man-of-the-match: Dale Steyn for bowling figures of 9.4-0-50-5
