Top 5 India v South Africa clashes in ODIs

2. 2015 World Cup

When these two sides met in the 2015 World Cup on February 22, India had a point to prove as they had never beaten South Africa in the World Cup. India had been in Australia since November 2014 and managed only won one international game in 10 tries. SA were favorites to win the title while not much was expected of the Indian team owing to their mediocre show during the test series and the triangular series that preceded the World Cup.

India won the toss and batted first. Rohit Sharma played out a beautiful first over maiden by Dale Steyn. Sharma looked focussed, not committing himself to the moving ball, I told myself, he would score big today. Alas, he was, unfortunately, run-out the very next over by none other the Maverick AB De Villiers. The initial stutter, however, was quickly forgotten as Kohli and Dhawan stitched a beautiful partnership which put India in the driver’s seat. Dhawan went on to score a century and Kohli missed out, falling for 46. However, an aggressive Rahane made sure India’s innings was on track. He played glorious strokes, including that stunning six over Morne Morkel’s head, something I won’t forget for the rest of my life. The top order scored he€avily as India went on to score 307 at the massive MCG. However, with AB De Villiers in the opposite team, is any score ever safe?

SA didn’t have a great start, losing both their openers early. Faf Du Plessis and De Villiers put a sedate partnership but with De Villiers at the crease, SA would always fancy their chances. 20 overs were done, something had to give, De Villiers looked impenetrable, every Indian fan watching the game was tensed and then it happened. A brilliant Mohit Sharma throw that ran out De Villiers. Sharma would go on to take many wickets in the tournament but for me, THAT throw would always supersede any of those wickets. It the game in India favour and from that point onwards, it was one way traffic, India went on to win the game in an emphatic fashion, beating SA by 130 runs.

India and SA both went on to reach the semi-finals but were beaten by their respective hosts.