LIVE SCORECARD
Yuvraj does a Dhoni! finishes the match with a towering six over mid-wicket. India have made a mockery of the 191-run target and with that have booked their semifinal spot in Champions Trophy.
FOUR!Imran Tahir to Virat Kohli, Good shot! Shortish around off, Kohli camps back and pulls it through the mid-wicket region for a boundary.
FOUR! Imran Tahir to Virat Kohli, Beautiful shot! Fuller around leg, Kohli plays his trademark flick through the mid-wicket region for a boundary.
FOUR!Imran Tahir to Yuvraj Singh, Good shot! Fuller on middle, Yuvraj Singh stays in his crease and lofts that over the mid on region for a boundary.
WICKET! Imran Tahir to Shikhar Dhawan, OUT! Finally something to cheer for the Proteas! Googly in line of the stumps, spinning away. Dhawan uses his feet and swings wildly across the line. However, he gets it off the outer half of the bat towards wide long off. Du Plessis covers good ground to his right and bends low to take a fine catch. Back-to-back tons was there for the taking but he perishes. A brilliant knock nonetheless.
EXPERT VIEW: India now decimating South Africa. Dhawan completely toying with the World's No. 1 team. Another Sunday, another big-ticket match and another thumping India victory on the cards. Will it be the same on next Sunday?
FOUR! Chris Morris to Shikhar Dhawan, Boom! Dhawan is stamping his authority now. Short delivery on off, Shikhar swats it over mid on for back-to-back boundaries.
FOUR! Chris Morris to Shikhar Dhawan, Dhawan is in the zone! Shortish outside off, Dhawan pulls it through mid-wicket to find the fence.
Kohli gets to his 41st half-century
India: 131/1 (Dhawan 66, Kohli 48)
Overs: 27
FOUR! Chris Morris to Shikhar Dhawan, Bang! Good length delivery on off, Dhawan heaves it across the line and does so convincingly. Gets it over mid-wicket for a boundary.
Dhawan spanks one over mid on to get to his third consecutive 50 plus score. he should pack England and Champions Trophy wherever he goes. What a knock by the moustache twirling Gabbar of Indian team.
FOUR! Morne Morkel to Virat Kohli, Kohli is getting into the groove. Fuller length ball outside off, Kohli leans towards it and punches it through covers. Has struck that beautifully and the ball whistles away to the fence.
FOUR! Morne Morkel to Virat Kohli, Pure timing! Fullish delivery on off, Kohli brings his wrists into play and clips it through mid-wicket for an elegant boundary.
India: 101/1 (Dhawan 49, Kohli 38)
Overs: 22
100 up for India. Their making light work of this target.
FOUR! Morne Morkel to Virat Kohli, A bit risky but the Indian skipper will take it. Good length delivery outside off, Kohli steers it through the gap between first slip and gully to find the fence once again.
FOUR! Morne Morkel to Virat Kohli, Uppish but safe! Fuller length ball outside off, Kohli looks to lift it over covers. Ends up slicing it over the backward point fielder and the ball rolls to the fence.
FOUR! Andile Phehlukwayo to Shikhar Dhawan, Hit with disdain! He is so good on square of the wicket on either side. Gets a short delivery and room is on offer. He cuts it authoritatively towards point. Miller dives to his right but the ball goes past him in a jiffy. Earns another boundary to his name.
FOUR! Imran Tahir to Shikhar Dhawan, Well played! Picks the googly to perfection and gets the desired result. Tossed up around off, spinning away. Shikhar waits for it and cuts it nicely. Beats Amla at point to race across to the fence. He is getting better and better as the tournament progresses.
FOUR! Imran Tahir to Shikhar Dhawan, Well played! Tossed up delivery, Dhawan nails the sweep through square leg and the ball races to the fence.
EXPERT VIEW: 16 overs into the Indian innings, fielding clearly the difference between the two sides. South Africa have already let a couple slip through, one has gone between the legs of Morkel.
Andile Phehlukwayo to Virat Kohli, Dropped! It was a good effort though. Fuller length ball outside off, Kohli goes at it with hard hands but gets an outside edge. The ball flies low towards Amla at first slip. He dives and gets a hand to it but on the impact on the ground, the ball comes out.
India: 65/1 (Dhawan 30, Kohli 21)
Overs: 15
FOUR!Chris Morris to Virat Kohli, Straight as an arrow! Fuller around off, Kohli leans into the drive and hits it through the mid on region for a boundary.
SIX! Andile Phehlukwayo to Virat Kohli, Does it get any better? Fuller around off, Kohli charges a bit down the track and swings it straight down the ground. Over the long on region for a biggie. One bad ball and Kohli pounces on it.
Chris Morris to Virat Kohli, just short of fine leg. Geee! Kohli would have had his heart in his mouth. Short delivery around leg stump, Kohli swivels to pull it down to fine leg for a single. 50 up for India.
India: 37/1 (Dhawan 22, Kohli 2)
Overs: 10
Dhawan breaks the shackles with back to back fours.
FOUR! Morne Morkel to Shikhar Dhawan, That's lovely! Fuller around off, Dhawan chips it uppishly through the cover region. Miller gives it a chase, puts in a dive but he cannot stop the ball to reach the fence. Back-to-back boundaries for Shikhar.
FOUR! Morne Morkel to Shikhar Dhawan, Length delivery outside off, Dhawan strides into the ball. Punches down the ground, beats the diving AB de Villiers through the mid off region for a boundary.
India: 24/1 (Dhawan 11, Kohli 1)
Overs: 6
WICKET! Morne Morkel to Rohit Sharma, OUT! Morkel strikes! Length delivery and angling into the batsman, Rohit Sharma goes leg side and tries to hit it over the infield on the off side. Gets an outside edge to it and the ball flies to the keeper. Quinton de Kock flies to his right to take a good catch. Sharma has to walk back to the hut.
FOUR! Kagiso Rabada to Shikhar Dhawan, Poor fielding by Phehlukwayo! Short delivery into the body, Dhawan pulls it fine towards fine leg. Phehlukwayo from deep backward square leg tries to cut it off but ends up over running it which allows the ball to race away to the fence.
SIX! Morne Morkel to Shikhar Dhawan, What a shot, Dhawan! Fuller into the pads, Dhawan flicks it beautifully over the square leg region. Times it impeccabbly well as the ball sails deep into the stands for a maximum.
SIX! Kagiso Rabada to Rohit Sharma, Sharma is on the charge! Short delivery into the body, Sharma camps back and goes for the pull. Gets it over the mid-wicket region for half a dozen. Good over this for India. 10 runs off it.
FOUR! Kagiso Rabada to Rohit Sharma, Typical Sharma this time! Fuller into the stumps, Sharma drives it straight down the ground for a boundary.
India: 0/0 (Rohit 0 , Dhawan 0)
Overs: 1
What an over by Kagiso Rabada! A maiden to begin with. Rohit had no clue in more than one occasion.
Welcome back for the chase! Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma will open the batting for India. Meanwhile, South Africa will start the proceedings with Kagiso Rabada. Two slips in place. Can the Proteas strike early? Here we go...
It is a below par score on the board and with the deep batting that India possess, it seems to be a cakewalk in the park. However, South Africa wouldn't give up and go hard at India as it is a matter of qualifying for the semi-final. It is a two-paced track and a few wickets upfront might just put the Men in Blue in a dicey situation. Join us in a while for the chase.
They kept on mounting the pressure on South Africa, who crumbled under it. They ran through the lower middle order in a jiffy. The Indian bowling was right on the money today. Every bowler at least took a wicket. Bumrah was impressive and so was Ashwin on his return. Credit needs to be given to Virat Kohli for his field placings and bowling changes. He didn't let the Saffas off the hook with his aggressive captaincy. They lost eight wickets for 51 runs at the end and that tells you the story.
Top class performance from India and they are in a commanding position at the innings break. South Africa began sedately as the opening partnership was a decent one. Quinton de Kock played a good knock to score a half century but threw his wicket in the quest for quick runs. After that, the Proteas lost their way completely. AB de Villiers and David Miller were run out due to errors in judgement. You can't afford that at such a big stage and the Men in Blue grabbed the opportunities with both hands.
India need 192 to reach the semifinal
WICKET! Bhuvneshwar Kumar to JP Duminy, OUT! South Africa are running crazy! You can't even call these school boy errors. Length delivery around off, Duminy heaves it through the mid-wicket region. Kohli is quick to charge towards the ball. The batsmen want the second but they both hesistate to run. Kohli fumbles which makes Tahir go for it. He is sent back by Duminy but its too late as the Indian skipper to quickly collect the ball and throw it at the striker's end. Dhoni is quick to dislodge the bails and they start celebrating as the umpire goes upstairs to check for the run out. Replays show that Tahir was well outside and SOUTH AFRICA HAVE BEEN BOWLED OUT FOR 191.
EXPERT VIEW: Everything Kohli has touched has tunred into gold today. He brings Bumrah, he gets a couple of wickets. Decides to bring Bhuvneshwar Kumar from the same end, he gets two-in-two. South Africa are in danger of getting bowled out under 200.
WICKET! Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Morne Morkel, OUT! Two in two for Bhuvi! Another outside edge and Kohli had sharply placed himself at the slip position. Back of a length delivery outside off, Morkel tries to push at it. Gets a thick outside edge and the ball flies towards Kohli who makes no mistake. Brilliant stuff from Bhuvneshwar and he is on a hat-trick.
WICKET! Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Kagiso Rabada, OUT! The bowling change works and Rabada has to walk back! Good length delivery and angling away. Kagiso tries to defend it on the leg side. Gets a thick outside edge on it and the ball flies towards the keeper. The ball carries and Dhoni dives towards his left for a sharp catch and South Adrica are even struggling to reach 200 here.
South Africa: 184/5 (Duminy 19, Rabada 5)
Overs: 42
FOUR! Jasprit Bumrah to Kagiso Rabada, Short delivery and Rabada pounces on it this time. Plays the pull shot over the square leg region for a boundary.
WICKET! Jasprit Bumrah to Andile Phehlukwayo, OUT! Bumrah gets his second! Low full toss in the line of the stumps, Phehlukwayo tries to clip it on the leg side but he fails to make contact. Gets hit flush on the back pad and the players start appealing for an LBW. The umpire stays undisturbed. Kohli after consulting his players, opts for the review. Replays show that it pitched on leg, impact was in line and it was going to hit the stumps. So it was plumb and the umpire has to change his decision. Both the teams have got their reviews right.
WICKET! Jasprit Bumrah to Chris Morris, OUT! Morris bites the dust! India are right on top and are dictating the terms at the Oval. Dug in short around off, Morris is drawn into the pull but is early into his shot. Ends up getting a top edge and the ball spoons towards mid-wicket. Bhuvneshwar Kumar moves to his right and pouches it safely. First wicket for Bumrah in the ICC Champions Trophy.
South Africa: 165/5 (Duminy 10, Morris 4)
Overs: 36
WICKET! Hardik Pandya to Faf du Plessis, OUT! Dragged on! South Africa have lost the plot completely. Off cutter outside off, on a a shorter length. Du Plessis stays back and looks to force it through covers. However, he gets a thick inside edge and the ball goes back to shatter the furniture behind.
South Africa: 148/1 (Du Plessis 32, Duminy 2)
Overs: 31
Ravindra Jadeja to JP Duminy, Not out! Tossed up delivery, spinning in. Duminy goes for the sweep but seems to have missed it as he gets rapped on the pads. Huge appeal for an LBW and up goes the umpire's finger. Dumniy opts for the review straightaway. The replays show that JP gloved it. He is safe.
EXPERT VIEW: Someone has pushed the self destruction button in the South African camp. A deja vu of 2015 World Cup. a De Villiers run out had led to Miller's and then the South Africa innings just crumbled while chasing.
WICKET! Ravichandran Ashwin to Faf du Plessis, OUT! Huge mix-up and Miller is on who suffers. Flatter delivery on off, du Plessis is squared up a touch and gets an outside edge towards short third man. He takes off and Miller responds.
WICKET! Ravindra Jadeja to Faf du Plessis, OUT! The big fish departs! A bit short around off, du Places places it towadrs point and takes off. Ab de Villiers responds and hares to the danger end. Hardik Pandya moves to his right and returns an accurate throw to MS Dhoni. he collects the ball and takes the bails off in a flash as AB dives full length to come back. It is referred upstairs and India look confident. The replays show that the skipper is short of his crease. A big breakthrough this.
EXPERT VIEW: De Villiers seems to be in one of those destructive moods, not a good sign at all for India. Kohli should bring Ashwin back as he has got the charismatic right-hander many a times in the past.
FOUR! Hardik Pandya to Faf du Plessis, Poor delivery and duly punished! On a length and slanting down the leg side, du Plessis just has to get some bat on it. He does and gets it fine past the keeper for a boundary.
FOUR!Hardik Pandya to AB de Villiers,Shot! Fractionally overpitched outside off, Ab de Villiers crunches it through covers. It is the shorter side of the ground and the ball whistles away to the fence.
WICKET! Ravindra Jadeja to Quinton de Kock, OUT! Jadeja gets his man! Floats this one outside off and spinning in this time. De Kock tries to sweep it on the leg side but he misses it completely this time. The ball goes through and disturbs the stumps. Jadeja is excited and Quinton de Kock first time misses out on his ton against India after reaching the half century. A big, big wicket for India.
That's 50 for De Kock. He had to work hard for this one and now has to carry to press for a big score.
South Africa: 104/1 (De Kock 47, Du Plessis 14)
Overs: 22
100 up for South Africa!
South Africa: 94/1 (De Kock 42, Du Plessis 10)
Overs: 20
FOUR! Ravichandran Ashwin to Quinton de Kock, Typical Quinton! Fuller around leg, de Kock whips it powerfully through the mid-wicket region for a boundary.
EXPERT VIEW: Dhoni is again playing the role of a pseudo captain. Didn't see him in this active mode in the first two group matches. Perhaps was waiting for a must-win situation like this. Great to see him guiding Jadeja on which lengths he should bowl.
WICKET! Ravichandran Ashwin to Hashim Amla, OUT! Ashwin has got the breakthrough India needed! Fuller around off at a quicker pace, the ball skids on after pitching. Amla goes to cut hard at it and gets a thick edge on it. Dhoni behind the stumps takes a sharp catch to send the dangerous Amla back to the hut. Ashwin has struck on his comeback game and has drawn the first blood of the encounter. Amla departs after a good start to his innings.
South Africa: 62/0 (De Kock 27, Amla 30)
Overs: 15
FOUR! Hardik Pandya to Hashim Amla, Another predetermined shuffle and Amla gets rewarded! Length delivery outside off, Amla goes way across and hits hard at it. Gets it fine off the inner half through the short fine leg region for a boundary.
SIX! Hardik Pandya to Hashim Amla, WOW! straight over the square-leg boundary for a six. Amla shuffles across his off stump and forces Pandya to bowl to his pads. Flicks it using his lovely wrists for the first maximum of the match.
Hardik Pandya to Hashim Amla, DROPPED! Fuller delivery around off, Amla drives it straight back to the bowler. Pandya is a bit late to react on his follow through and he cannot hold onto the ball coming straight to him. A fielder of his standard should have taken it. Amla is lucky to survive.
South Africa: 50/0 (De Kock 29, Amla 16)
Overs: 13
That was suicidal from De Kock! What was he thinking running by dabbing straight to Kohli? He survives as the Indian captain misses by a whisker. 50 up for South Africa.
FOUR! Ravichandran Ashwin to Quinton de Kock, drifting down the leg side on the shorter side and De kock was quick to pounce on it. A much needed boundary for the proteas.
EXPERT VIEW: Both Amla and De Kock are struggling for timing. The key for South Africa though is they haven't yet lost a wicket. Ashwin's spell will be crucial, can't see South Africa going going at this slow rate for too long.
South Africa: 35/0 (De Kock 20, Amla 11)
Overs: 10
Brilliant star by Ashiwn, just 2 off his first over. Tells you why he has been India's No. 1 bowler
Look who's got the bowl in his hands, it's Ravichandran Ashwin. England has been waiting for a while to see the world's premiere off-spinner in action and now he's got a job to do.
Again a quality over by Kumar Nothing to work with for Amla and De Kock.
South Africa: 30/0 (De Kock 17, Amla 10)
Overs: 8
EXPERT VIEW: Some great tactics by Indian seamers to tie De Kock down, no room whatsoever. Slowly the frustration is creeping into the young keeper-batsman.
FOUR!Jasprit Bumrah to Hashim Amla, Crisp! Short of a length outside off and room on offer, Amla rises up on his toes and punches it through covers for an elegant boundary.
South Africa: 21/0 (De Kock 15, Amla 4)
Overs: 5
FOUR! Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Quinton de Kock, Easy pickings! Length delivery down the leg side, de Kock moves inside the line and nudges it fine. Beats Dhoni and earns a boundary for himself.
FOUR! Jasprit Bumrah to Quinton de Kock, Straight as an arrow! Fuller length delivery on off, de Kock leans forward and strokes it past the bowler. Pure timing on that and the ball whistles to the fence.
South Africa: 9/0 (De Kock 4, Amla 3)
Overs: 1
Jaspirt Bumrah to share the new ball with Kumar.
South Africa: 3/0 (De Kock 1, Amla 1)
Overs: 1
Steady start from both teams.
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar has the new ball in hand and he will be up against Quinton de Kock
Players are out their in the centre, huge occasion for both the teams.
SA XI: Q de Kock, H Amla, F du Plessis, AB de Villiers, D Miller, JP Duminy, C Morris, A Phehlukwayo, K Rabada, M Morkel, I Tahir
IND XI: RG Sharma, S Dhawan, V Kohli, Y Singh, MS Dhoni, H Pandya, K Jadhav, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, B Kumar, J Bumrah
South Africa skipper, Ab de Villiers says stats favour the chasing team but he doesn't mind batting first. Mentions that they batted against Sri Lanka and are excited to put up a good total on the board. Feels that their batsmen need to communicate and plan the innings better. Opines that Virat is a good man and he gets along well with him. Reckons that their is a lot of passion and dedication when you play for your country. Announces that they have got one change. ANDILE PHEHLUKWAYO comes in for Wayne Parnell.
India skipper, Virat Kohli says that he will bowl first. Reckons that after looking at the last game and the trend in the tournament, he feels that it is better to field first. Informs that the wicket should remain the same throughout the game. Feels that knowing the target would help them when they come out to bat. Mentions that they have been batting well but they failed to defend it which made the total they made look 15-20 runs short in the previous game. Emphasis on the changes - RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN comes in place of Umesh Yadav.
INDIA WIN THE TOSS AND OPT TO FIELD!
LIVE UPDATES India vs South Africa Group B
Photo: AP
London: Virat Kohli will be facing the toughest battle of his nascent ODI captaincy career when defending champions India take on South Africa in a do-or-die virtual 'quarter-final' of the ICC Champions Trophy tomorrow.
Their confidence shaken after Sri Lanka effortlessly out-batted them in a high-scoring encounter, the Indian team and Kohli in particular will be keen to ensure that South Africa are continued to be known as "chokers".
Call it irony, if India lose the game, it will be defending champions making an exit even before the semi-final. If the Proteas lose, then the current No.1 ranked ODI side would be ousted before the last four stage.
A defeat will have the skeptics blaming the speculated off-the-field issues for the a performance.
In such a backdrop, Kohli will be under huge pressure with margin of error being next to nil.
For AB de Villiers, it will be an opportunity to prove that self-imposed exile from five-day game has not affected his limited overs skills.
With three quality left-handers -- Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy and David Miller -- in the South African line-up, Kohli can't afford to keep Ravichandran Ashwin in cold storage.
More so after knowing what can happen to Ravindra Jadeja when there is absolutely nothing in the strip.
Ashwin atleast has some natural variations, including the off-break which is his stock ball. The proud performer that he is, Ashwin will be smarting after being excluded in the first two games and it can only work positively in India's favour.
However, skipper Kohli's leadership acumen and understanding of the current situation will be under scrutiny depending upon the kind of playing XI he opts for the next game.
Ashwin's entry into the playing XI looks logical but he certainly won't replace Jadeja as two spinners are likely to play against the Proteas, who are not known to be comfortable against slow bowlers.
The other big factor is Jadeja's electric fielding inside the circle and the powerful arm from anywhere at the boundary line. Jadeja can save at least 15 runs per match which makes him an useful player in this format.
Neither can Hardik Pandya be dropped as his pyrotechnics at No 7 is just what is needed from a batsman used as a floater in the order.
Jasprit Bumrah is another specialist bowler, who is a certainty in the playing XI, with his ability to bowl Yorkers at will at the death.
Therefore it will either be Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Umesh Yadav, who may have to make way for Ashwin.
In the second Powerplay overs during the Sri Lanka match, India had conceded over 200 runs, something Ashwin will be asked to check as a marauding AB de Villiers will be itching to score big.
With scores of 319 and 323 in the two games, the batting has a settled look.
All the top-order batsmen have got a decent hit including the opening duo of Rohit-Sharma-Shikhar Dhawan, who conjured back-to-back century partnerships.
While both openers have been in good nick, there's no denying that they have also consumed a lot of balls initially, which finally had an impact during the Lanka game.
With new Powerplay rules, any total of less than 340 can be knocked off with some positive intent in strokeplay.
Kohli is happy with the batting performance but on a practical note, feels that they may need 20 runs of cushion.
"May be you think of phases where we could have accelerated (vs SL), but I don't see that as a major issue. Maybe we will have to push harder now in the next few games to give us a 20-run cushion after seeing a result like this, because we're playing on the same ground as well," the skipper had said.
In fact, South Africa batting coach Neil McKenzie also agreed that fluency has been an issue for openers of all the teams.
"It's been a little bit of tough going for the openers. The fluency has been an issue. But one needs to adapt according to situations as the conditions here demand little bit of caution. The wickets need to be kept so that one can attack in the back end," McKenzie said.
On the personal front, Kohli himself would like to lead with the bat against a side that has bowlers like Morne Morkel and all-rounder Chris Morris.
Imran Tahir, whose stock ball is googly, might just test Rohit's defence as the Mumbaikar had some trouble reading the wrong 'un from him during IPL.
With an interesting main plot and layers of sub-plot, one can brace up for some exhilarating action between two quality sides.
Squads
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav,Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Dinesh Karthik, Ajinkya Rahane.
South Africa: AB de Villiers (captain), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), David Miller, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Keshav Maharaj, Farhan Behardien, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwayne Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada.