Chahal's dazzling 4/51 & Rohit's unbeaten 122 deck up 6-wicket win
The Indian gala at the Hampshire Bowl on Wednesday was in a bit of a playful mood, taking the see-saw first and only then opening up the bat along the with the cloud cover to make its inaugural mark in this World Cup.
By the time the team romped home, the late evening sun had come out of the clouds briefly to applaud Rohit Sharma's gritty century off 128 balls with 10 boundaries and two sixes, despite the oppressive atmospherics through much of his innings, and Yuvendra Chahal's mid-morning exploits that had the South Africans in a tizzy over the spinner's 4-51. Sharma, who becomes the ninth batsman to make 23 centuries in ODI cricket, eventually led India to six-wicket victory with 2.3 overs left at 122 not out (2 sixes and 13 boundaries).
As said, India's stylesheet was decked by distinct performances in both the innings, with World Cup debutant Chahal leading the laurels with the best-ever 10-over single spell performance of 10-0-4-51, after a dazzling opening spell by Jasprit Bumrah who cleaned up Hashim Amla (6) with a riser outside off-stump engineering an edge to a low-lying catch by Sharma, and De Kock (10) who walked in his next over, angling a back of length delivery into Virat Kohli's agile hands at third slip.
In the process, the Men in Blue cashed in on a desperate and cornered South Africa who gambled wrongly by choosing to bat on a day that got laden with dark clouds over the Bowl canopy with a nip in the wind adding to the dangerous elements.
In the morning, when clouds gathered, one thing was clear. South Africa would have a trying time, as would India later in the day. What was not on the news template though was that after two early scalps in their belt off Jasprit Bumrah's dishy opening spell, and the Chahal-Kuldeep show in the middle overs, India would allow the Proteas to trot on to a more competitive 227 for 9 than the expected under 150 score.
Though 227 can decisively be called a below par World Cup total against the world's No 2 ODI team, an under-the-cloud game with cold conditions in the second half always had potential to become difficult for even the best bats. And that's what happened early in the second innings. India lost an edgy Shikhar Dhawan (8) at a mere Indian 14 when he caressed an off-the-stump beauty by Kagiso Rabada into the waiting hands of Quinton de Kock much to the delight of the pumped-up bowler.
Close on his heels, Kohli swung his bat wildly and walked to a brilliant one-hand dive catch by Quinton de Kock, off Andile Phelukwayo, when he had just turned 18 and India's fortunes started dwindling at 54 for 2 with the team requiring 174 runs at a mounted rate of 5.4, making KL Rahul's task gritty and difficult.
The South African cordon seemed to get tighter and only a few textbook shots, like the straight drive by K L Rahul to a boundary, gave the much-desired relief and hope to quietened Indian fans in the stands before, of course, Sharma got going in real earnest much after Kohli's departure.
Just when the Indian script was looking sorted with Rohit Sharma cruising after a keenly fought 50 and India on 135-2, K L Rahul scooped one into the waiting hands of the SA skipper du Plessis, yet again off a celebratory Rabada, bringing in Dhoni and hesitant cheers all around.
Then on, the heartbeats somewhat stabilised as Dhoni survived a catch at first slip and a referred lbw call to do what he does best: Cement the innings with rotation runs and a solid back-up show for Sharma, giving him a 50-run partnership in 69 balls, before Chris Morris finally got him to a scooped up short ball at 34 and when India was at 213, giving four wickets to the South Africans and just 15 runs to go to defeat.
The lead story though was Chahal who spun magic on a day that would traditionally belong to pacers, further stunting a struggling South African side. His 10-over no maiden 51 for 4 was the best wicket-taking 10-over single spell by any bowler in a World Cup game. All of Chahal's exploits were his very own with the batsmen little to blame for the falls. His victims were men with no mean achievement: Du Plessis who failed to fathom his googly and was bowled, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller and Andile Phelhlukwayo, reducing SA to 158-4.
The other story of the day was that the Proteas, who lost steam and routine catches in their third game of the tournament, are all but out of the reckoning if they do not win the next six on a trot. This time their jinx was not history so much as injury, desperation and listless performances.
As for India, it's first The Oval and the Aussies and then many more battles to win against difficult opponents before the touchline to the semi-final.