Clinical India bowls South Africa out for 191

If there was one image that summed up how theICC Champions Trophy 2017has gone for South Africa, it came off the first ball of the 30th over after it had been put in to bat by Virat Kohli at The Oval on Sunday.

Faf du Plessis had just steered the returning R Ashwin to short third-man and set off for a single. At the other end, David Miller responded. Du Plessis took a few steps and changed his mind, turned back and dived into his crease. The only problem was, Miller had no idea du Plessis had turned around, and both men ended up at the same end. The ball was thrown to the other for an easy run-out, and the third umpire had to be called on not to adjudicate whether a batsman was in or out, but which batsman had made his ground first. Miller was the unfortunate batsman who had to depart.

Reeling under the shock of AB de Villiers’ run out just five balls back, this was another massive bowl to South Africa’s innings, which stuttered and sputtered to 191 all out in 44.3 overs in a Group B clash that is a virtual quarter-final.

India now only needs its batsmen to keep their heads on a pitch that has not played any extravagant tricks to book a semifinal date with Bangladesh at Edgbaston, and keep its title defence alive.

Before the match, both captains had stressed the need to stay calm, not get overexcited and thus make clear decisions on the field. Only India lived up to those words in the first half at least, with the run-outs showing South Africa’s ability under pressure in dubious light.

Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock had begun cautiously, forced by the discipline that Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah maintained to be circumspect. Neither looked particularly fluent, with Amla especially not getting his feet moving well. The result was that the Power Play over brought only 35 runs, though the openers stayed unseparated. It was Ashwin, including in the XI ahead of Umesh Yadav, who made the breakthrough, going flatter and quicker for Amla (35 off 54) to get a thick edge. MS Dhoni held an understated, but marvellous catch with little reaction time and South Africa was 76 for 1 in the 18th over.

Du Plessis began superbly, hardly facing a dot ball and placing the ball well so that he was going at a run-a-ball without having hit a boundary. South Africa looked like it was regaining control after the sedate start, and even though de Kock (53 off 72) was bowled by a Ravindra Jadeja quicker one, de Villiers looked in ominous touch. He and du Plessis were finding the runs and the fence easily from the start when disaster struck for South Africa. Du Plessis drove the ball gently towards point and de Villiers took off. There was never a run in it, and even though he put in a Superman-like dive, Dhoni was too quick. Already dealt that blow, South Africa was effectively punched out when the comical Miller-du Plessis mix-up happened in the next over. The steady start and the gains made through speeding up were all lost with the score 142 for 4.

It was a swift slide from there, thanks partly to South Africa’s broken spirits and the Indian bowlers’ continued magnificence.

All the bowlers got amongst the wickets with even Hardik Pandya, the weakest link in the bowling attack, getting du Plessis to chop on for 36. South Africa’s lower order has useful batting chops, but was not equipped to deal with the likes of Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar in top form and with the team five down for 157. Both pacers picked up two wickets each, but fittingly perhaps, the last wicket was once again via a run-out.

JP Duminy, trying to farm the strike with only Imran Tahir left, called the leg-spinner through for a second after pulling to deep mid-wicket, but Tahir first hesitated, then responded and was sent back because it was too late. It might have turned out to be too late for South Africa to make amends for its horror batting show too, though if anyone has the attack to make a match of it, it is South Africa.