Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja star as India thrash South Africa by 243 runs
India thrashed South Africa by 243 runs to continue their unbeaten run this World Cup. Let’s take a look at how the match played out.
India won the toss and opted to bat first
First Innings:
India start off strong: India got off to a flying start yet again as their openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill added 62 runs for the first wicket. But why did they start well? The new ball was coming onto the bat nicely which led to easy run scoring.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-south-africa-37th-match-1384428/match-photo
Kagiso Rabada strikes for South Africa: Kagiso Rabada struck for South Africa as he dismissed Rohit Sharma for 40 runs. But why did the captain get out? Rohit had got off to a flier and in a bid to keep attacking, he lost his wicket to Rabada as he was caught at mid off.
Shubman Gill wastes another start: After the dismissal of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli stitched a 31 run stand for the second wicket. Gill played some pleasing shots but lost his wicket to Keshav Maharaj as he was bowled for 24 runs. But why did Gill lose his wicket? The slowness of the pitch came into play as Gill was undone by the turn to get out.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-south-africa-37th-match-1384428/match-photo
Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer take India forward: After Gill’s dismissal, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer took India forward through a 134 run stand for the fourth wicket. But how did India rebuild? While Virat had slowed down after the introduction of spin (as there was turn for the spinners, it wasn’t easy to hit boundaries), Shreyas Iyer took it upon himself to keep the scoreboard moving and he also hit timely boundaries using the long levers.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-south-africa-37th-match-1384428/match-photo
Lungi Ngidi strikes for South Africa: Lungi Ngidi struck for South Africa as he dismissed Shreyas Iyer for 77 runs. But why did Iyer get out? The old ball was difficult to get away and the slower balls were working for the fast bowlers which led to Iyer’s downfall as he mistimed a slower ball to Aiden Markram to lose his wicket.
Suryakumar Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja provide strong finish: While Virat Kohli once again set up the Indian batting with his 49th ODI century, Suryakumar Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja provided some much needed momentum at the back end of the innings as their cameos helped India cross the 300 run mark and they ended with a score of 326/5.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-south-africa-37th-match-1384428/match-photo
But why were Jadeja and SKY able to score quickly? The ball seemed to be coming onto their bat nicely because of dew which led to a flurry of boundaries. SKY scored a quickfire 22 while Jadeja scored 29*. All the main bowlers of South Africa, starting from Kagiso Rabada to Tabraiz Shamsi chipped in with a wicket each but India clearly dominated the first innings proceedings.
Second Innings:
South Africa get bundled out for 83: Just like Srilanka, South Africa also never turned up for the chase as they got rolled over for a miserly 83. But what was the reason for this collapse? While there was not much movement for the fast bowlers, the batters got out to soft dismissals. De Kock was unlucky as he chopped a Mohammed Siraj ball back onto his stumps while Markram played a lose shot to edge a Shami ball to the keeper. Van der Dussen also couldn’t do much as he missed a straight ball from Shami to be LBW.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-south-africa-37th-match-1384428/match-photo
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-south-africa-37th-match-1384428/match-photo
Indian spinners wreck havoc: After the pacers did their bit with the ball, it was the Ravindra Jadeja show that followed. After impressing with the bat, Jadeja followed it up with a five wicket haul. But why was Jadeja able to take five? The pitch was on the slower side and there was turn and bounce for Jadeja. Kuldeep Yadav also took full advantage of the conditions and took two wickets himself as both the spinners played a crucial role in India’s 243 run win.
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/india-vs-south-africa-37th-match-1384428/match-photo
As seen from the above analysis, India had a complete performance while it was a shocking collapse from South Africa. Could they have done anything better? The openers should have taken advantage of the powerplay as that was the best time to score runs since the ball was new. As the ball got older it was difficult to score against which played right in India’s favour as they applied the spin choke.
Brief Scores:
India: 326/5 (Virat Kohli- 101*, Shreyas Iyer- 77, Rohit Sharma- 40, Ravindra Jadeja- 29*, Suryakumar Yadav- 22, Marco Jansen- 1/94, Tabraiz Shamsi- 1/72, Lungi Ngidi- 1/63, Kagiso Rabada- 1/48, Keshav Maharaj- 1/30)
South Africa: 83/10 (Marco Jansen- 14, Van der Dussen- 13, Temba Bavuma- 11, David Miller- 11, Ravindra Jadeja- 5/33, Mohammed Shami- 2/18, Kuldeep Yadav- 2/7, Mohammed Siraj- 1/11)
Note: I do not own any of these images. The credit for these images goes to espncricinfo.com. These images have been used to show what happened during the game.