India win 7 out of 7 matches as they seal their top position and a spot in the semi-finals. India has just one match left in this World Cup, and that is against Netherlands. India seemed to have ticked all the boxes when it comes to batting first or chasing, bowling, and fielding. India looks prepared for the semi-finals and is ready to take on any team in the fourth position.
However, South Africa will have a lot of questions to be answered, especially their strategy on how to chase a target, as they seem to be lacking in that area. They couldn’t chase 245 against Netherlands, barely chased 271 against Pakistan, and failed to chase 326 against India. South Africa has been dominant while batting first, but they will need to work on how to chase targets in the second innings.
On his 35th birthday, Virat Kohli tied Sachin Tendulkar’s incredible record of 49 ODI centuries with yet another incredible performance played in difficult conditions. The former captain of India played through most of the innings in Kolkata’s humidity, so his celebration was restrained. He scored a century, setting a high standard for India, who scored an astounding 326/5 in 50 overs.
With Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill slamming Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada to the ground, India came out swinging. After the openers fell, Keshav Maharaj maintained an eye on the batsmen during the middle overs, which caused the run rate to slow down, but Kohli and Shreyas Iyer persevered through it.
After that, the two changed gears and each scored a half-century. When Iyer lost to Lungi Ngidi on 77 off 87, the stand ultimately came to an end on 134 off 158. KK Soon after Rahul was out, Suryakumar Yadav made a fun cameo, hitting 22 off of just 14 balls, and Ravindra Jadeja followed suit. While Kohli reached his milestone on the other end, the all-rounder continued to remain undefeated at 29 off 15. Finishing at 101 off 121, he was undefeated.
End of first innings: India 326-5; Virat Kohli 101 (121); Shreyas Iyer 77 (87); Keshav Maharaj 10-30-1-0-1; Kagiso Rabada 10-48-1-1.
With the ball, Ravindra Jadeja was the architect, picking up five wickets. India gave South Africa a tough target of 327 and, riding on his heroics, folded them for 83 in 27.1 overs. Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav each took two wickets, while Mohammed Siraj took one, aside from Jadeja.
End of second innings: South Africa 83-10. Ravindra Jadeja 9-33-1-5; Kuldeep Yadav 5.1-7-1-2.
