India and South Africa, two of the strongest teams of ODI cricket, made it a rollicking affair as they smashed 636 runs in this opening match of ICC Champions Trophy. It was Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan who smacked the trio of Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Ryan McLaren and Rory Kleinveldt to help India win the match by 26 runs.
Dhawan scored an electrifying century but it was Ravindra Jadeja's scintillating knock towards the end that took India to 331 in their 50 overs. Later, it was the spin-twins of Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin who brought India back into the match as they gave away just 78 runs in the 19 overs they bowled together.
Here we bring to you the hits and flops from the match between India and South Africa:
Shikhar Dhawan: Dhawan played a sensational innings of 114 runs off just 94 balls. He started off slowly but once he started to time the ball, he was an absolute treat to watch. His technique was surely tested as Proteas kept bowling short. He kept the scoring rate in control as he smacked 12 crisp boundaries and one huge six in his innings.
Ryan McLaren: McLaren was one of the outstanding performers of this match. His innings of 71 runs off just 61 balls was studded with 11 boundaries. He did bring his side quite close to the target but it was just too late for them. He even picked up three wickets but was quite expensive as he gave away 70 runs.
Rohit Sharma: Sharma played quite sensibly as he scored 65 runs off 81 balls. He used the pace of the ball quite well. He broke the shackles after first five overs and that took the pressure off Dhawan.
Robin Peterson: Peterson was looking really good with the bat as he smashed 68 runs off 72 balls. He was the cornerstone of Africa’s innings but presence of mind along with the brilliant throw from Jadeja sent him back to the pavilion and drew the curtains of their chances of winning this match.
Ravindra Jadeja: Jadeja was a livewire on the field. He smacked 47 runs off just 29 balls which put India in the driver seat. Later he was just magical with the ball. He picked up the wicket of JP Duminy and accounted for the run-out of Peterson which allowed India to put the brakes on South Africa’s run chase. He ended up with the figures of 2/31 in 9 overs.
AB de Villiers: De Villiers played his part really well but got out at a wrong time when he was trying to muscle the ball which went straight into the hands of Jadeja. He played quite sensibly in his knock of 71 off 72 balls. However the problem was with his captaincy and bowling changes which didn’t allow him to put any pressure on Indian team till the last 10 overs or so.
Ravi Ashwin: Ashwin wasn’t amongst the wickets but he was the unsung hero who brought India back into this match. His economical bowling not just allowed India to put pressure but also brought the scoring rate bit lower than six. He gave away just 47 runs on the wicket which wasn't assisting his bowling. But he made the good use of bounce and did trouble the Proteas.
FLOPS
Umesh Yadav: Yadav had a very poor start when he was hot for back-to-back boundaries by Hashim Amla. But he came back well to pick up his wicket. However after this over, he went for plenty. He ended up with the figures of 2/75.
David Miller: Miller got out without facing a ball as he got run-out after a good throw from Suresh Raina. Miller didn’t show much presence of mind which cost him his wicket.
Ishant Sharma: Sharma got smacked for 66 in eight overs. He ended up with the figures of 2/66 which is not expected from an experienced bowler like him, he kept bowling the length deliveries and paid the price quite heavily for that.
Lonwabo Tsotsobe: Tsotsobe had the forgettable match as he gave away 83 runs in his 10 overs which surely is not expected from a front line bowler. He kept bowling short deliveries to Dhawan who kept milking him for ones and twos along with odd boundaries. Rather than pitching the ball at yorker length, he bowled length balls and was punished for that.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Kumar started off well but couldn’t do much after his first spell of six overs. He was expensive as he ended up with the figures of 2/49 because of the length he was bowling to Peterson and De Villiers. He allowed them to take the advantage of extra width which he was offering as they kept sending the ball to the ropes.
Rory Kleinveldt: Rory ended up with figures of 0/80 which hurted his captain very badly. Just like rest of the bowlers of his team, he bowled most of his deliveries on the shorter side which hardly troubled the Indian batsmen.
By Amit Chopra
Indian Sports News Network