World Cup 2019 Stats: Match 8, South Africa vs India, Numbers you need to know
If there is one place in Southampton where you would not enjoy today or the next few days, it is South Africa's camp. They've lost another match in the World Cup, against India this time. For the first time in history, they have lost the opening three and three consecutive matches in a World Cup. It is not the end for them but they have to win all the remaining six to have a realistic chance of making it to the semi-final.
South Africa were on the back foot even before the start of the match. Dale Steyn will not be part of the team for the rest of the tournament. Lungi Ngidi's unavailability for the next few matches has compounded their woes.
The Indian seamers took advantage of the situation that they were put in -- Jasprit Bumrah breathed fire and removed both openers cheaply. Skipper Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen tried to steady the innings, but the introduction of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal ended that fight.
Rassie tried to break the shackles by trying to reverse sweep Chahal and paid the price. His wicket triggered another collapse. But useful contributions from David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, and Chris Morris ensured that South Africa played out their full quota of 50 overs. It would be fair to say that India restricted South Africa to an achievable target.
South Africa opened their defence with Imran Tahir but immediately realised that there was something for the pace bowlers and brought in Morris to support Rabada. Both of them bowled beautifully to exert pressure on the Indian openers.
India lost Shikhar Dhawan early, while Virat Kohli was not at his fluent best. Both Rabada and Morris managed to keep them quiet. Later, Quinton de Kock plucked a sensational catch to get Kohli out. India looked in trouble but Rohit stitched useful partnerships with KL Rahul and MS Dhoni to chase down the target.
Here are some interesting numbers from the game
3 – South Africa have never lost three consecutive matches in a World Cup. It was also the first time that they have lost their first three opening matches in a World Cup.
7 – In total there were 7 World Cup debuts in the match. Six for India -- KL Rahul, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah and one for South Africa (Tabraiz Shamsi).
23 – Rohit Sharma scored his 23rd century in an ODI and went past Saurav Ganguly’s tally of 22. Only Sachin Tendulkar (49) and Virat Kohli (41) are ahead of him now.
31* – Kagiso Rabada got to his career-best ODI score in the match.
50 – Jasprit Bumrah’s played his 50th ODI match today.
50 – Virat Kohli registered his 50th win as ODI captain of India.
122 – Rohit Sharma's 122* is the second highest score by an Indian during a chase in the World Cup. The record is held by Sachin, 127* against Kenya.
Also read - Highest batting average in world cup
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