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South Africa vs India, Match 8 - Live Cricket Score, Commentary
Series: ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Venue: The Rose Bowl, Southampton Date & Time: Jun 05, 10:30 AM LOCAL
Chahal ends with figures of 4 for 51 © AFP
INDIA win by six wickets
The 2011 champions are off the mark! They've had to wait a week to get going, but when they did, they were superior to their opposition in every aspect of the game. South Africa missed their injured stars with the ball, but their batting is what let them down today. Jasprit Bumrah was riveting up top but it was South Africa's failure to deal with Yuzvendra Chahal's dip and drift that brought their downfall. Kagiso Rabada was a man on a mission - first with his cameo and then with his superb first spell, but once Rohit Sharma wiggled his way out of it somehow, he batted long and ensured India wouldn't collapse in a small chase.
With that, South Africa go 3 losses in 3 games and are starring at a tough climb from here on. Faf insisted they're still not out of contention, but after tonight, they need some special individual performances. India go up against 2015 winners on Sunday next, while South Africa face West Indies next on Monday.
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Bumrah removes Amla early...
Excellent bowling from the pacer. He's been getting the ball to move away from the left-handed Quinton de Kock and messed with Hashim Amla's head. The right-hander played for the length ball coming in towards him but this one held its line. He was also done in by the bit of extra pace, and ended up poking it without conviction to Rohit Sharma at first slip. SA 11 for 1 in 3.2 overs.
DK Reddy Devarapalli: I have an exam tomorrow but the #INDvSA match is keeping me away from it.
Run out chance missed?
Early drama here? Jasprit Bumrah bowled an innocuous leg-stump delivery that Quinton de Kock flicked towards the fine leg fence and set off on a run. He turned around, saw Kedar Jadhav mop up in the deep and called for a second. Poor call, could've been really tight had Dhoni hit the stumps after collecting it a few steps away.
Bumrah then proceeds to square up QdK with a couple of brilliant deliveries that shaped away from the left-hander and almost mocked him on the way to Dhoni.
No pressure, India!
Expectation level: Indian fan ©Getty
So what do we have here...
-South Africa are strengthened by the return of Hashim Amla. Faf du Plessis could do with some solid senior support.
- South Africa have also gone for a secnd leggie in Tabraiz Shamsi - clearly Prasanna has been supplying the team with some IPL videos of Virat Kohli getting foxed by leggies on multiple occasions.
- Over at India, KL Rahul has overtaken Vijay Shankar at the very end to clinch the No.4 race. It had appeared certain that Vijay would slot in there - after he himself beat Ambati Rayudu in the 11th hour - but a century against Bangladesh in the warm-up has turned Kohli and Shastri's attention to Rahul.
- After all the injury woes, form worries and permutation and combinations, India are starting the World Cup with their most preferred combinations - four pure bowlers, with the two leggies and Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar as the two quicks. Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja start the World Cup on the bench.
- Before there could be Kagiso vs Virat, there's Bhuvneshwar Kumar and swing vs SA top-order? Tasty.
TOSS: South Africa opt to bat. Hashim Amla declared fit to play today. KL Rahul wins the race to India's No.4
PLAYING XIs:
INDIA: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
South Africa:Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Rassie Van der Dussen, David Miller, JP Duminy, Andile Phehlukwayo, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi
Prelude - India's campaign to begin at last...
So here we are then. India's World Cup campaign is less than an hour away! The anticipation surrounding the Indian team has been at an all time high in the last few years, and yet today will be extra special - at least for Indian cricket fans. Afterall, the world's best ODI batsman will walk HIS team out in his first World Cup as captain. And if you've heard him talk about the childish excitement of playing in a World Cup, you know how big the occasion really is. Beyond the Indian fans, million other eyes will be on him too, for he is the most talked about - for reasons good and otherwise.
There's a also a wild expectation that he will own the World Cup with his bat - something that's still missing from his illustrious CV.
Even if today's narrative begins with India's much-awaited World Cup bow, it doesn't end just there. At the opposite end is a bruised South Africa - bruised by their injury owes, bruised by their defeat to Bangladesh and the return of the general consensus that they just cannot wrap their heads around a World Cup.
But, and this is a big one, this is still early stages. Three defeats will surely dwarf South Africa's chances of making the semis, but there's no surety of it. But in knockout tournaments, stranger things have happened. Most of the times it has happened to South Africa, but they can hope that they can steer clear of such ill luck.
Our man Ganesh is in Southampton, and he has been trying to get a sense of anticipation. He expects India to have a big impact on the tournament. You could also train your eyes on his preview for the big game.
© Cricbuzz
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