India vs South Africa: What happened the last time when they met at World Cup?
India are set to take on South Africa on June 5 to start their World Cup campaign. India will look to start their tournament on a great note while South Africa will want to get the campaign back on track after two consecutive losses against England and Bangladesh.
So what happened when these two times faced each other in a World Cup?
India and South Africa played each other in the last World Cup in 2015. Both the teams came into this match with a win in their bag. It was a really crucial encounter considering that the winner had great a chance to top Group B. India took an early lead by defeating South Africa in a convincing manner.
On that particular day, India won the toss and elected to bat first on a really good wicket at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground. India had an early stutter with Rohit Sharma bagging a duck but that didn't bog down his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan as he hit a mammoth hundred.
Shikhar Dhawan and star batsman Virat Kohli had to bide their time due to some very disciplined bowling from South Africa's new ball bowlers, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander. The 127-run partnership between Dhawan and Kohli was finally broken in the 25th over as Kohli walked back for a well-made 46. An in-form Ajinkya Rahane then joined Dhawan in the middle and the two started to accelerate in an incredible manner.
Soon Dhawan reached his hundred and he made sure that it didn't end as a small 100 as he went on to notch up his highest score in ODI cricket at that point of time. On the other hand, Rahane plundered an incredible 60-ball 79. India suffered a small collapse at the very end but that wasn't enough to stop the team reach 307 after 50 overs.
Despite the wicket being good for batting, South Africa were always going to feel the pressure of a World Cup game. India started to apply pressure from the very beginning as Mohammad Shami struck in just the 4th over to dismiss Quinton de Kock. Hashim Amla was soon dismissed and South Africa started to struggle very early on in the chase.
Only Faf du Plessis was able to make a meaningful contribution with a fifty which meant that South Africa crumbed and got bundled out for a mere 177. R Ashwin ended up with three wickets while Mohammad Shami and Mohit Sharma had two scalps beside their names. Ultimately, Shikhar Dhawan's century and a professional bowling performance propelled India to a massive 130-run win. Not just batting and bowling efforts, but India outfielded South Africa on that fruitful day.
Eventually, the importance of this game reflected at the end of the group stage as India topped the group. India went on to win all of their games in the group stage to end with an unbeaten record. Then, India went on to beat Bangladesh in the quarter-final but their journey ended with a loss against eventual World Cup champions Australia in the semi-final. On the other hand, South Africa's campaign ended with a heartbreaking loss in the other semi-final against New Zealand.
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