ICC Champions Trophy 2017, India vs South Africa: 5 things South Africa did wrong
South Africa's ICC tournament woes seem to have no end as they collapsed like a pack of cards against India here at The Oval. Put in to bat, the Proteas were too watchful at the start and the pressure built up resulting in a couple of wickets.
However, Du Plessis and De Villiers seemed to have steadied things before sanity took a backwards step. De Villiers and then David Miller were run-out off consecutive overs trying impossible singles and the whole innings collapsed. They eventually set a well below-par target of 192 for India to qualify for the semi-finals.
Despite losing Rohit Sharma early, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli stood firm against some decent bowling. The pair cruised to a hundred run partnership that eventually sealed the game for India easily. Here are five things the Proteas did wrong on the night.
#5 No intent in the first 10 overs
South Africa have started slowly with the bat right through the tournament and the trend continued against India. In their defence, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah bowled impeccable lines, but that does not hide the fact that there was little intent from the South African openers viz Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla.
De Kock and Amla were in a shell and built up pressure on themselves with the slow approach. With Jadeja and Ashwin set to bowl in the middle overs on a dry wicket, a quickish start was what the Proteas needed. Unfortunately, the openers focussed too much on not losing their wicket which eventually led to a collapse.