ICC Champions Trophy 2017, India vs South Africa: The history of their rivalry in the tournament
India’s dramatic loss to Sri Lanka in the Group B tie has given the fans two virtual quarterfinals to look forward to in the group stages that’s turning out to be much tighter than earlier anticipated. Even as Pakistan stunned South Africa to throw open the semi-final race in Group B, Bangladesh defeated New Zealand to once again reiterate their growing influence in this format of the game, even in adverse conditions.
For Indian fans though, their virtual quarterfinal against South Africa is anything but bad news. India has played South Africa three times before the game this Sunday in Champions Trophy and has reached the finals of the tournament every time, defeating South Africa in the process.
Moreover, India’s 3-0 psychological advantage over the Proteas in the Champions Trophy will weigh heavily on the cricketing minds of the game’s perpetual chokers.
As we breeze past the final group-games-turned-knockouts, here is the complete history of the India-South Africa rivalry in the Champions Trophy over the years.
#1 India vs. South Africa, Semi-Finals, ICC Knockout Trophy 2000
A bloated tournament for developing cricket outside the perennial powerhouses, the ICC Knockout Trophy had one of the most bizarre formats you will ever witness in sports. The tournament began with pre-quarterfinals since top five ranked teams of the original eleven were already given a place in the quarters. Eight teams, therefore, kick-started the tournament that was tipped to be the mini-world cup, spread over 12 days.
This game, however, must only be remembered for Sourav Ganguly’s class and nothing else. In a tournament where the ‘Bengal Tiger’ was the highest scorer with a total of 348 runs, Ganguly scored 141 in this game alone.
Having brushed aside the Australians in the quarterfinals, India posted a challenging total of 295 runs at the Gymkhana Club Ground in Nairobi. South Africa, starting off with a stutter that resulted in Kirsten’s run-out, never really recovered.
Some late resistance from Mark Boucher and Lance Klusener was not really enough to overhaul the damage done by Zaheer Khan and Venkatesh Prasad at the start as India bowled out the Africans in just 41 overs.
India though suffered a heart-breaking loss against New Zealand in the finals just two days later, even after restricting the black caps to 132/5 at one point in the game.