ICC World Cup 2019 Match 8: India vs South Africa Highlights

India kick started its ICC World Cup 2019 campaign with a victory over Proteas in  ICC World Cup 2019 Match 8. South Africa scored 227 runs for the loss of 9 wickets and India overhauled this total for the loss of 4 wickets with 15 balls to spare.

It was the third straight loss for South Africa who now will have to win all their remaining matches in order to qualify for the semi-finals.

The match, ICC World Cup 2019 Match 8, was played at The Rose Bowl, Southampton, on the 5th of June 2019.Post winning the toss, Skipper Plessis chose to bat first, a plan that failed miserably.  Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 122 and superb bowling by Indian bowlers helped India triumph in the match.

Chahal emerged as the star bowler for the Indians by capturing 4 wickets. He was adjudged the man of the match for his brilliant bowling efforts. The initial breakthrough to India was provided by Jasprit Bumrah who consumed both the openers when the match had barely begun. For South Africa, Kagiso Rabada bowled his heart out but a small score put up by their batsmen and resilience shown by Indian batsmen prevented him from clinching victory for his team.

Given the fact that all-rounder Chris Morris was the highest scorer for South Africa with a score of 42 runs, showed the tame surrender by South African batsmen against lethal Indian bowling attack.

South Africa Innings

Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock opened the South African Innings. Amla’s stint in the innings was a short one as he managed to score just 6 runs off 9 balls. He was caught by Rohit Sharma off Bumrah’s bowling. Even Quinton de Kock did not last long and was caught by Kohli off Bumrah’s bowling. Expectations were high with Plessis’s arrival at the crease and he started stroking the ball well. Bowled over by Chahal, Plessis just scored 38 off 54, putting an end to all the hopes and expectations. Rassie van der Dussen was dismissed by Chahal post scoring 22 off 37. Caught and bowled by Chahal, Miller was dismissed at his personal score of 31 off 40 deliveries. Chris Morris was the only South African to cross the 40 runs mark. Morris was caught by Kohli off 34. South African innings ended at 227 runs post 50 overs.

India Innings

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma opened the Indian innings, as always. Dhawan, who is not in form these days, didn’t manage to get past the 10 run mark.  After scoring 8 runs, Dhawan was dismissed by Rabada. Skipper Virat Kohli also failed to put up a big score. He scored just 18 off 34, prior to getting caught by de Kock off Phelukwayo. Rahul, who scored a century in the previous warm up match, gave stability to Indian innings. Although he managed to score just 26 runs in this match, his partnership of 85 runs with Rohit Sharma paved the way for an Indian victory. Another good partnership between MS Dhoni & Rohit Sharma virtually sealed the match for India. When Dhoni was out for 34 runs, India needed only 15 runs for victory which Hardik Pandya sealed with a score of 15 off 7 deliveries. This 15 included 3 hits to the fence. Rohit scored 122 not out. Although it was a much subdued innings from Rohit Sharma, its importance in the context of the match was huge. Let’s hope that India will continue with its winning ways and lift the World Cup for the third time.