When Virat Kohli joined Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the ODI century list, another head from their five-fanged bowling assault buried South Africa under this mound of runs. If the quick bowlers had been getting a little too much attention in the last few games, Ravindra Jadeja waved the flag for spin with gusto, finishing with 5 for 33 in a commanding 243-run victory for the hosts that guarantees them a top-four finish in the league standings for a second consecutive World Cup.
India has a chance to end the league round with a perfect record after easily defeating the next-best team in the competition, unlike four years ago when they lost one game and were eliminated from another. South Africa has a terrible record of self-combustion in ICC tournaments, but this time they were just outplayed. Even losses of this magnitude are not always humiliating; in fact, India has given some teams severe punishment, and Jadeja and company’s method of evisceration had an unsettling resemblance.
How South Africa’s potent lineup will handle India’s potent bowling assault was the main question going into this match. With their starting lineup, South Africa offered a few well-timed jabs, beginning with Quinton de Kock, the player with the most hundreds in the competition. Tonight, he batted for just ten balls before pulling Mohammed Siraj back to his stumps. Once again, Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah, his new-ball bowling partner, were flawless, and South Africa’s batsmen did little to stop them from going long.
This meant that, in chasing 326, they had managed just 21 runs after seven overs, and Jadeja was brought in to attack on a surface that suited his style. He needed three balls to hit the top of the off and spin one ball beyond Temba Bavuma’s forward defense effort. The parade then started. In his opening over, Mohammed Shami, who was bowling from the opposite end, caught Aiden Markram behind. With the help of the DRS, Shami sent Rassie van der Dussen packing in his third by nipping one back into his opponent.
Jadeja ran amok during those two Shami punches. The finest spin player in South Africa, Heinrich Klaasen, attempted a sweep with a ball that was extremely full. To his dismay, the ball slid under his bat, and the DRS displayed three reds. After his shot, David Miller found himself confronted with the debris behind after attempting and failing to execute the sweep. After Keshav Maharaj was cleared out, Kagiso Rabada gave Jadeja his second five-fer in an ODI by returning a catch. Not too long after, Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets to seal the victory.