The match between South Africa and India was the most anticipated league match of the 2023 World Cup’s second stage. Both teams dominated the points table, with India leading South Africa because they had won more games than their opponents. They also had the greatest bowling lineups and an offensive group of hitters. Eden Gardens in Kolkata was supposed to be suspenseful, but it was a letdown. India performed as they had been doing the entire competition, but South Africa stammered to a crushing defeat because they could not follow their plan.
Captain Rohit Sharma chose to bat first on a challenging Kolkata surface, setting the tone with a forty from 24 balls before the visitors responded with two fast wickets. India managed to set a 327-run goal as Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer shared a match-saving third-wicket partnership. While Iyer hit 77 off 87, Kohli tied the long-standing ODI century record held by Sachin Tendulkar with his 49th ton in his undefeated knock of 11.
In response, India folded the visitors for just 83 runs, securing an overwhelming 243-run victory in Kolkata. South Africa collapsed against the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja, the latter taking five wickets.
South Africa must have been devastated by this kind of loss, so close to the semifinals, but captain Temba Bavuma managed to maintain his sense of humor during the post-match press conference, as seen by his answer to the presenter’s question on whether the powerplay was the main reason behind Proteas’s problems. After making a brief joke in response, Bavuma explained that the game was lost by them due to Rohit’s explosive start and the stand-off between Iyer and Kohli.
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Speaker: Did you feel the most pain throughout the first ten overs?
Temba Bavuma: Is it better to use the bat or ball?
Speaker: Using the sphere?
Temba Bavuma: It was difficult throughout the first ten overs when the ball was in play. Within ten overs, they reached ninety. After that, we were successful. decreased the run-rate. India constructed large stands, and taking wickets was the biggest issue. Sharma somewhat predisposed it. Iyer and Kohli made a strong team. The most important lesson is in the conditions. The wicket performed as we had anticipated; we thought it would worsen, but we were ill-prepared.
Prior to learning their semifinal opponent, South Africa still has a league match to play: on November 10, they go to Ahmedabad to play Afghanistan.
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