Outclass South Africa by 243 runs in a top of the table clash

Powered by Virat Kohli's record-equaling 49th ODI ton, Shreyas Iyer crucial fifty in the middle overs, and all-round performance by Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma-led Team India pummeled South Africa for their eighth straight win at the iconic Eden Gardens, Kolkata in the ongoing ICC Men’s ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 on Sunday night.

Electing to bat first the two times former champions India posted 326 for 5 in their allotted 50 overs, before their bowlers led by left arm spin twins of Ravindra (5/33) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/7) wreaked havoc by sharing seven wickets among themselves in 14 overs, after pacer Mohammed Siraj provided the crucial opening break with a wicket of South African’s leading run scorer Quinton de Kock (5) in the fourth ball of his opening spell. India’s leading ODI wicket-taker in World Cup Mohammed Shami (2/18) too struck crucial blows in between that resulted in the Proteas being dismissed for 83 by the 28th over, their lowest total in the marquee ODI global event much to the delight of the 70,000 die hard boisterous Indian fans at venue.

India in the process confirmed their place at the top of the table, after having bundled out the opposition in 6 of the 8 matches, and are the only team this World Cup to not being dismissed They will next meet qualifiers Netherlands in their final league match at Bangalore on 12^th November.

Earlier Rohit’s quick fire 24-ball 40 in the company Shubman Gill ensured India a flying start as they piled up 62 in 35 balls, before South African’s experienced pacer Kagiso Rabada (1/48) had the former caught by his skipper Temba Bavuma at mid-off. The Men-in-Blue continued to make the best of the field restrictions by scoring 91 runs inside the Powerplay, though Shubman (23) perished to a peach of a ball, by left arm spinner Keshav Maharaj (1/30) soon after. 

It was former captain Virat who made the best of the opportunity on his 35^th Birthday, and equaled his childhood hero Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49th ODI century in his 277 innings, in the penultimate over of the match with a single of Rabada, not before he and Shreyas (77) had added valuable 134 runs off 158 balls for the third wicket on a pitch that was providing considerable assistance to the spinners.

It was a master class of fitness and poise on display by India’s run machine Virat who had missed out on his second World Cup century after being dismissed for 95 and 88 against New Zealand (Dharamsala) and Sri Lanka (Mumbai)  earlier in the tourney. Virat, reached the three figure mark in 119 balls which included 49 singles, six twos and ten fours.

A relieved Virat Kohli who was named the  Player of the Match for scoring a century for the 40^th time on a winning cause for Team India, post the match said, “ "It was a big game, probably playing the toughest team in the tournament. There was a motivation to do well. Because it happened on my birthday, it became special and the people made it more special for me. As the ball got older, the conditions slowed down drastically. The message was clear, to keep batting around me. I’m enjoying myself, playing cricket all over again, which is more important to me than phases. I’m just happy that God has blessed me with that enjoyment. It’s a very emotional moment for me, I know where I come from, I know the days I have watched Sachin Tendulkar on TV, and just to get that appreciation from him means a lot to me."

A disappointed Temba Bavuma, South Africa Skipper who earlier became Ravindra Jadeja’s first of his five victims after being castled when on 11 said, "We know it was a challenge. We had our conversations with our batters. They got 90 in the first 10 overs and we did well after that, curbed down the run-rate. Unfortunately, we were not able to adapt. Potentially, we might play again here in the semis."

 A happy Rohit Sharma, India Skipper said,  "If you look at how we have played in the last three games, we have adapted better. We let our instincts take over, we don't pre plan anything, we just assess and play accordingly. Jadeja has been very good for us playing in every format over the years. Today was a classic case as to what Jadeja is for us, came out at the death and scored vital runs, and then picked up wickets. Not to get too ahead of ourselves has been the talk in the dressing room, a couple of big games coming up and we don't want to change anything."

Brief scores (Round robin league match no. 37):

India:  326/5 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 101* (121b: 10x4s), (87b: 7x4s, 2x6s), Rohit Sharma 40 (24b: 6x4s, 2x6s), Ravindra Jadeja 29* (15b: 3x4s, 1x6), Shubman Gill 23 (24b: 4x4s, 1x6), Suryakumar Yadav 22 (14b: 5x4s); Keshav Maharaj 1/30, Kagiso Rabada 1/48, Lungi Ngidi 1/63, Tabraiz Shamsi 1/72, Marco Jansen 1/94) beat South Africa: 83 all out in 27.1 overs (Marco Jansen 14 (30b: 1x4), Rassie van der Dussen 13 (32b: 1x4), Temba Bavuma 11 (19b: 1x4), David Miller 11 ( 11b: 2x4s); Ravindra Jadeja 5/33, Mohammed Shami 2/18, Kuldeep Yadav 2/7, Mohammed Siraj 1/11) by 243 runs. Player of the Match: Virat Kohli (India)

Photo Player of the Match: Player of the Match Virat Kohli (Right) celebrates his world record-equaling 49th ODI ton with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja who took five wickets in addition to two catches and quick fire 29 not out in 15 balls in the death overs (Photo courtesy BCCI / ICC)