Mahela ton settles Sri Lanka
Dhawan deadly in SA’s worst defeat at World Cup
Pool B, World Cup India 307/7 (Dhawan 137, Rahane 79; Morkel 2/59) South Africa 177 (Du Plessis 55; Ashwin 3/41) India won by 130 runs
AFTER all the excitement of “White Night” that kept Melbourne entertained all through Saturday evening, the muchanticipated World Cup tie at the MCG yesterday was a bit of damp squib. That was for the South Africans at least. For the Indians who made up the majority of the 86 876-strong crowd it was one helluva party due to the world champions once again providing a masterclass in how to remain calm on the biggest stage.
For all the lessons India handed out to South Africa yesterday – and there were many that encompassed all aspects of batting, bowling and, importantly, fielding – the most precious one AB de Villiers and his team can take from this game is how to keep it simple.
One defeat does by no means consign the Proteas to the scrap-heap at this World Cup. There is still a long journey ahead, but there will need to be serious introspection over the coming days to assess how it actually went so horribly wrong on the night.
The “MCG Massacre” – as it will be known going forward – was so horrific that it was South Africa’s worst defeat in World Cup history.
For starters the use of six bowlers with- in the first 18 overs, including two spinners within the power-play, bordered on being impatient due to the fact that the pitch was not offering any swing or seam movement to the fast bowlers.
Although South Africa have been accused of being inflexible and rigid in the past, this was a period where good disciplines and patience were required to break down the Indian batting order.
A direct hit from the skipper himself which ran out opener Rohit Sharma had provided South Africa with the early momentum they had desperately craved, but ultimately they could not back it up with consistent lines and lengths from the bowlers.
Enter Shikhar Dhawan. For almost twoand-a-half months in Australia he’d looked like he could not score a run in club game, let alone on a stage as grand as the World Cup.
However, confidence is a wonderful thing when it starts pumping through your veins again, and after last week’s half-century in the almost tribal warfare with Pakistan in Adelaide, Dhawan was ready for the South Africans.
Just like he was in Cardiff two years ago when he blitzed a century in the Champions Trophy opener. Perhaps it’s green Proteas jumpers, or the fact that it was another ICC tournament, but Dhawan certainly had the bit between his teeth yesterday. He cut ferociously when the ball was short outside the off stump – often when the recalled Wayne Parnell offered these deliveries – and pulled with even greater authority despite Morne Morkel pegging him on the shoulder with a couple of bumpers.
South Africa’s bowling unit certainly suffered when Vernon Philander limped off with a hamstring injury that saw him deliver only four overs.
Matters were compounded when a diving Hashim Amla dropped a flashing Dhawan cut in the gully on 53 in Parnell’s second over.
The big moment was lost, Parnell dropped his head and delivered a few innocuous overs in the immediate aftermath and the Indian opener did not need a second invitation to dash towards his personal best and also the highest score against South Africa at a World Cup. This was even though Imran Tahir was trying his utmost to put a lid on the scoring-rate through a fine spell of leg-spin bowling.
By that stage, though, Dhawan had already formed significant partnerships of 127 in 24.2 overs with Virat Kohli (46) and a further 125 in just 16.3 overs at 7.3 runs per over with the mightily impressive Ajinkya Rahane as Team India accelerated towards a total in excess of 320.
Although South Africa’s eventual target was slightly less than that, they needed to follow a similar process of building partnerships to get close to such an impressive total. A basic element to achieve this objective is good running between the wickets to ease the scoreboard pressure, and it is here where South Africa committed suicide through two run-outs within the top six.
India’s fielding unit certainly roamed the vast MCG outfield like tigers hunting down their prey, but it was simply inexcusable to lose both AB de Villiers and David Miller to misjudgements between the 22 yards of parched earth.
It tore the heart out of South Africa’s runchase which simply left Faf du Plessis with too much to do on his own.
There will be opportunities to atone for this defeat going ahead, but right now the pain of knowing they left most of their game in the changeroom, and not out on the field, will linger with the Proteas.