Southampton: Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (4/51) making his debut in the World Cup shone, with the ball as India restricted South Africa to 227 for nine in 50 overs at the Rose Bowl ground here, Wednesday. Then Rohit Sharma (122 n o, 144b, 13×4, 2×6), who coming into this game did not have much form with the bat, scored his 23rd ODI hundred to help India canter home by six wickets in their opening game of the ICC World Cup.
Skipper Virat Kohli (18) who had scored two centuries in India’s opening matches of the 2011 World Cup and 2015 edition of the event was not among runs. Kohli had got tons both against Bangladesh and Pakistan respectively in 2011 and 2015. However, Rohit saw to it that India did not face any problems as the Men in Blue romped home in style on a pitch which was not exactly conducive for batting with 15 balls to spare.
India were in a spot of bother at 54 for two with both Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan (8), both back in the hut. But Rohit held firm. He first had a partnership of 85 runs for the third wicket with KL Rahul (26) and then a fourth wicket stand of 74 runs with Mahendra Singh Dhoni (34, 46b, 2×4) to take the game away from the Proteas.
Earlier, the Proteas who elected to bat after winning the toss never got going as Jasprit Bumrah (2/35) another debutant in the World Cup, struck early on dismissing both openers Hashim Amla (6) and Quinton de Kock (10) early on.
Skipper Faf du Plessis (38, 54b, 4×4) tried his best to salvage the situation, but once Chahal came on to the scene, the going became really tough for the Proteas. The leg-spinner picked up the wickets of Du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen (22), David Miller (31) and Andile Phehlukwayo (34) to make it a memorable World Cup debut. His spin partner Kuldip Yadav (1/46) got the wicket of JP Duminy.
Only some late rearguard action by Chris Morris (42, 34b, 1×4, 2×6) and Kagiso Rabada (31, 35b, 2×4) took South Africa past the 200-run mark. The two put on a stand of 66 runs for the eighth wicket to prop their team before Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/44) dismissed Morris and Imran Tahir in the last over of the innings.
Brief scores: South Africa 227 for 9 (Chris Morris 42, Faf du Plessis 38, Yuzvendra Chahal 4/51, Jasprit Bumrah 2/35, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/44, Kuldeep Yadav 1/46) lost to India 230 for 4 in 47.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 122 n o, MS Dhoni 34) by six wickets.
Agencies
