Favourites India made an impressive start to their ICC World Cup campaign with a six-wicket win over South Africa at Southampton on Wednesday. It was the third successive defeat for the Proteas who are languishing at the bottom in the 10-team competition. Onmanorama picks five reasons for the Men in Blue’s win a gripping encounter at the Rose Bowl.
Bumrah’s burst
Jasprit Bumrah made an emphatic statement on his World Cup debut. The Gujarat pacer proved yet again he’s the best in the business as he pushed the South Africans on the back foot by removing openers Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock in his first three overs. The early wickets meant the Proteas had to rebuild their innings and Bumrah’s spell also allowed pressure was on their opponents when the Indian spinners came into the attack.
Chahal and Kuldeep excel
The Indian spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal (4/51) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/46) underlined their growing stature by claiming five wickets between them. Chahal struck a big blow by castling Rassie van der Dussen (22) when he attempted a reverse sweep. Van der Dussen had put on 54 runs for the third wicket along with his skipper Faf du Plessis (38) and steadied the South African innings. Chahal breached the defences of du Plessis in the same over and when Kuldeep trapped J P Duminy (3) in front of the wicket, the Proteas had lost half their side for 89. Chahal returned to break a threatening sixth-wicket stand of 46 between David Miller (31) and Andile Phehlukwayo (34). He sent back both batsmen in quick succession as the South Africans slipped to 158/7.
Rohit’s quality knock
Though the target for India was a relatively modest 228, the South African new-ball pair of Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris bowled their heart out on a helpful track. Despite Shikhar Dhawan’s early loss, Rohit held the Indian innings together with some luck and a few cracking shots. Rohit grew in confidence as the innings went on. He put on 85 for the third wicket along with K L Rahul (26) and a further 74 in the company of M S Dhoni (34) for the fourth wicket. The Hitman went on to score his 23rd ODI ton and second in World Cups. He took India home with an unbeaten 122 and won the man-of-the-match award for his quality knock.
SA spinners disappoint
While the Indian spin duo of Chahal and Kuldeep excelled, the South African spin pair of Imran Tahir and Tabraiz Shamsi disappointed. Tahir and Shamsi went for 102 runs from 19 overs as compared to Kuldeep and Chahal who had combined figures of 5/97 from 20 overs. The poor show of Tahir and Shamsi meant the Indians could take their time against the pacers and play out their quota of overs.
Du Plessis’ tactics
Du Plessis' decision to bat on winning the toss backfired. It would have made sense to put India in to bat on a helpful wicket on an overcast day. However, the bitter experiences of losing the games after opting to field in their first two matches against hosts England and Bangladesh seemed to have been playing on the skipper’s mind. Also the fact that pacers Lungi Ngidi and Dale Steyn were not available as well as the presence of two spinners in their ranks meant the Proteas took a gamble to bat first. In hindsight, they would have been better off playing Steyn’s replacement left-arm pacer Beuran Hendricks in place of Shamsi. But it was one of those days on which the Proteas did not have the rub of the green going their way.
