Lions at Eden

Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune, Dharamsala, Lucknow, Mumbai and now Kolkata. India are proving unstoppable as South Africa are the latest to be overwhelmed by Rohit & Co, who rule the points table

With his ODI record-equalling 49th century on his 35th birthday, Virat Kohli was the obvious headline act, but Sunday was more than just about the former skipper. This was expected to be a blockbuster contest between the two form teams of the World Cup, but India reduced this to another one-sided contest with a 243-run annihilation of South Africa, thereby ensuring that they will finish on top of the league standings. Their eighth straight win of the competition was courtesy another command all-round display, Kohli’s hundred the perfect gift from him to more than 65,000 spectators who simply couldn’t have enough of him.

Solid start by skipper

It’s hard to tell if South Africa were overawed by the stage, but they were clearly overwhelmed by the ferocity of the Indian charge from the time Rohit Sharma chose to bat first. The skipper read the conditions beautifully and launched a sensational assault on Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen up front, ensuring that 61 were on the board without loss after the first five overs. Batting would get increasingly difficult on a slow track where there was grip, putting Rohit’s brilliance in perspective. Kohli produced a workmanlike knock, especially once he saw Keshav Maharaj procure appreciable turn to knock over Shubman Gill in his first over, allowing the others around him to bat with greater freedom.

Shreyas Iyer was Kohli’s ally in a stand of 134 for the third wicket, and Suryakumar Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja applied the final kick with blistering cameos to complement Kohli’s joint slowest ODI hundred, in 119 deliveries. It was exactly the kind of knock India required after the start Rohit had provided them, because this wasn’t a 350-plus surface; India’s 326 for five was comfortably well above par. South Africa’s response was a feeble 83 all out.

Also Read: Virat Kohli: 49 not out

India have made it a habit of killing off contests with the ball in the Powerplay and it was no different with a daunting task confronting a team not fluent at chasing. Dangerman Quinton de Kock perished in the second over, dragging Mohammed Siraj on, and Ravindra Jadeja reprised Maharaj by sneaking one past Temba Bavuma’s outside edge in his first over.

Mohammed Shami then forced Aiden Markram to edge to KL Rahul behind the sticks and the fight went out of South Africa. On another night, Jadeja’s five for 33, his second five-for in this format, would have been eulogised but this wasn’t just another night. The day, and the night, belonged to Kohli, who didn’t go overboard in his celebrations as he drew abreast of Sachin Tendulkar on 49 hundreds.

Mind over matter

It wasn’t Kohli’s most fluent knock, Quinton de Kock putting him down the leg-side off Tabraiz Shamsi when he was on 36 and several uncharacteristic mishits flying off his willow. But this was a classic exhibition of mind over matter; few, of course, have mastered the mind better than Kohli over the years.

Brief scores
India 326-5 in 50 overs (V Kohli 101*, S Iyer 77, R Sharma 40; K Maharaj 1-30) beat South Africa 83 all out in 27.1 overs (M Jansen 14; R Jadeja 5-33, K Yadav 2-7, M Shami 2-18) by 243 runs

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