World Cup Match 13 review: India vs South Africa; India break the streak

World Cup Match 13 review: India vs. South Africa; India break the streak:

South Africa had never lost to India in previous 3 meetings in 1992, 1999 and 2011 World cups. Star Sports had made a Mauka Mauka commercial about this fact. But India turned it all around and proved that a team just needed the right kind of pressure to bring down a giant like South Africa.

India batted first after winning the toss and lost Rohit Sharma to a run out for 0. After that Shikhar Dhawan (137) along with Virat Kohli (46) and then with Ajinkya Rahana (79) took India to 307 runs in 50 overs. Shikhar Dhawan got into his groove and dug in to play a knock of a life time. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane batted around him and despite India lost some wickets regularly in the end; they still managed to cross 300 which had been never chased by any team.

South Africa found batting tough on the drop in pitch where the ball was stopping before coming to the bat. They lost Quinton de Kock for 7 and Amla for 22. Faf de Plessis (55) and AB de Villiers (30) tried to mend the innings but Indian spinners Jadeja and Ashwin tied them down. De Villiers ran himself out for 30 and then lost Duminy for 6 finally put the nail in South African innings’ coffin. R.Ashwin took 3/41 and got much needed support from Mohd. Shami (2/30) and Mohit Sharma (2/31) to build the much needed pressure on the African team and they crumbled under pressure once again. They cannot seem to shake off that tag of choking under pressure against good teams, when they batted second. They can just go ahead and prepare for their next match against West Indies in Sydney on Feb 27. India will go ahead and play UAE on Feb 28 in Perth.

Shikhar Dhawan got Man of the match for his 137.

Brief Scores:
India 307/7 (S Dhawan 137, A Rahane 79; M Morkel 2/59) defeated South Africa 177/10 (F du Plessis 55, AB de Villiers 30; R. Ashwin 3/41) by 130 runs.