Both Indian bowlers and batsmen rose to the occasion on Sunday to steer the defending champions into the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy with a one-sided eight-wicket win over 1998 champions South Africa.
First the bowlers bowled out South Africa for a mere 191 in 44.3 overs and then Shikhar Dhawan (78, 83 balls, 12x4s, 1x6) and captain Virat Kohli (76 not out, 101 balls, 7x4s, 1x6) scored fine half-centuries to ensure India crossed the line with eight wickets and 72 balls to spare at Kennington Oval, London. India’s final score was 193 for two wickets in 38 overs.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah was adjudged the Man of the Match for his stifling eight-over spell in which he bagged two wickets.
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India will clash with Bangladesh in the second semi-final at Edgbaston, Birmingham, Thursday. In the first semi-final, Group A toppers England will face the winner of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka league encounter to be played on Monday at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. The first semi-final will be played on Wednesday at the same venue.
Both India and South were in a must-win situation in this virtual quarter-final match. India had beaten Pakistan in their opening Group B match but lost to Sri Lanka despite scoring over 300 runs. That defeat meant that India, who won the title in 2013 under MS Dhoni, needed to beat South Africa to qualify.
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South Africa had beaten Sri Lanka in their first match but had gone down to Pakistan in a rain-affected match, and that put them in the same situation as India.
On Sunday, Kohli won the toss and opted to bowl first under bright sunshine. The openers gave South Africa a solid start with Quinton de Kock (53, 72 balls, 4x4s) and Hashim Amla (35, 54 balls, 3x4s, 1x6) putting on 76 for the first wicket. Comeback man R. Ashiwn broke the stand by accounting for Amla. Then, de Kock and former ODI captain Faf du Plessis (36, 50 balls, 1x4) added 40 for the second wicket.
But after that the South African batsmen could do little in the face of some brilliant bowling by the five-man attack and sharp fielding. The run outs of captain AB de Villiers (16) and David Miller (1) in six deliveries further complicated matters for them. Also, the Indians were very accurate and bowled a massive 141 dot balls.
Apart from Bumrah, his co-pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar too bagged two wickets while Ashwin, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja managed one wicket a piece.
When India started the chase, they lost in-form Rohit Sharma quickly, but Dhawan and Kohli joined hands to raise 128 runs for the second wicket that effectively settled the issue. They were together for almost 25 overs and scored at a rate of 5.18 runs/over.
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With 41 runs left for victory, Dhawan was out after scoring his third 50-plus score in the tournament. The Delhi left-hander has been tremendous form in ICC tournaments. On the other hand, Kohli returned to form after failing against Sri Lanka and registered his 41st ODI half-century.
Brief scores: South Africa: 191 all out in 44.3 overs (Quinton de Kock 53, Faff du Plessis 36, Hashim Amla 35, Bhuvenshwar Kumar 2/23, Jasprit Bumrah 2/28) India: 193 for two wickets in 38 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 78, Virat Kohli 76 not out)
Man of the Match: Jasprit Bumrah
