CWC 19 : South Africa v India

[Sarge]

First of 2 matches today .... on recent form it should be an India win ....SA started the world cup rated 3rd (?) In world rankings, today might see them play to their full potential?

 

[unification]

I think we’re seeing the favourites for the title in action today in India. They have strong bowlers and with Kohli the most formidable short form batsman in the game right now.

Already have the Saffers one down too.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

SA somehow managing to be only one down so far, with the ball finding the edge pretty regularly!

 

[Foley]

26 for 2 after 6.
S A won the toss as well.

 

[Foley]

The pitch in Southampton is playing up.
Not a good one day pitch.
There seems to be some uneven bounce.

 

[Sarge]

Not shaping up to be much of a world cup for SA
Currently 92-5 after 23 overs

 

[ZeroTheHero]

SA got to 220 odd, which is better than what seemed likely at one point. It won't be enough though unless their bowling is a good deal better than they've shown so far in the two games they've lost.

 

[Sarge]

SA got to 220 odd, which is better than what seemed likely at one point. It won't be enough though unless their bowling is a good deal better than they've shown so far in the two games they've lost.

227-9 SA

 

[SteMerritt]

Just got in, has it been a dodgy pitch? Or just a case of India bowling well?

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Bounce a bit uneven apparently, but SA made a poor start and never recovered.

 

[unification]

And SA just missed a good catching opportunity.

It’s been a rough World Cup for them.

 

[Sarge]

India 123-2 29 overs

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Looking very much like the expected results in both matches today.

 

[Sarge]

As @ZeroTheHero says ^ expected results look likely today ...... this match is finely poised with India at 158-3 with 12 overs to go

 

[Sarge]

India need14 from 22 balls to win

 

[Sarge]

As expected india won

By 6 wickets ...with 2.5 overs to spare

 

[unification]

Clever and sensible batting from India. They recognised that the pitch was doing something (not a lot but enough to make it trickier) and paced themselves to get over the line. SA didn’t bowl badly, Morris in particular was very tight, but didn’t have much in the way of weaponry to do much damage to India.

It’s the sort of performance I’d like to see from England. Chasing a lowish total but on a pitch fraught with a few nasties in there, I’d imagine England would have chased that total down with the quality that they have but would have been seven down in pursuit of it and made it harder work than it needed to be. India recognised the concern, amended their plan and essentially went into Test mode with an eye to accelerating when they needed to. I fear England are so wedded to Plan A that they aren’t always so adaptable to these situations. The Champions Trophy defeat to Pakistan is an example of that.