The Indian juggernaut continues in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 as they beat South Africa by a massive 243 runs, the biggest defeat for Proteas in ODIs, at the Eden Gardens Stadium, here on Sunday. India bundled out the Proteas for 83 in 27.1 overs courtesy of Ravindra Jadeja's five-wicket haul after Virat Kohli’s brilliant show with the bat.
It was a masterclass by the Indian bowlers, starting with Mohammad Siraj who drew the first blood by clipping Quinton de Kock’s off-stump, who got out on 5 runs. Brought into the attack in the Power-play, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja started his hunt by clearing off Proteas’s skipper Temba Bavuma's off stump for 11 runs.
Jadeja continued his hunt as he went on to take four more wickets from there on. He trapped Heinrich Klassen (1) in front of the stumps, bowled out David Miller (11), cleaned up the off-stump of Keshav Maharaj (7) and got rid of Kagiso Rabada (6), catching him off his own bowling.
Jadeja also became only the second Indian spinner to take a five-wicket haul in World Cups. Yuvraj Singh was the first, picking up 5 for 31 against Ireland in 2011. Mohammed Shami, yet again, shone bright with two wickets getting rid of Aiden Markram (6) and Rassie van der Dussen (13). Kuldeep Yadav also got two wickets, sending back Marco Jansen (14) and Luni Ngidi (0).
With this win, India registered their eighth successive win in the World Cup 2023, remaining unbeaten with one more game with the Netherlands to go. India now have 16 points from eight games and are the only unbeaten team in the World Cup 2023.
This was supposed to be the big battle as the top two teams squared off. But India have just shut it off well before time. South Africa didn't even last 30 overs. India now have eight wins in eight games, making sure they finish the league stage at the top of the points table.
South Africa are still on 12 points, losing their second game out of three when chasing. Their net run rate has taken a hit but it's still a healthy 1.376.
Brief scores:
India 326/5 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 101, Shreyas Iyer 77, Rohit Sharma 40, Ravindra Jadeja 29; Keshav Maharaj 1-30) beat South Africa 83 all out in 27.1 overs (Marco Jansen 14; Ravindra Jadeja 5-33, Kuldeep Yadav 2-7) by 243 runs.