Pool B: India Vs South Africa played at MCG, Melbourne
India 307/7 ( Shikhar Dhawan 137 , Ajinka Rahane 79, Virat Kohli 46, M Morkel 2/59 ) beat South Africa 177 All Out ( F du Plessis 55 ,AB de Villiers 30 ,H Amla 22, David Miller 22, Ravi Ashwin 3 /41,Mohammad Shami 2/30, Mohit Sharma 2/31 ) by 130 Runs

Defending Champion India playing like true champions dispatched strong contender South Africa with a massive win by 130 runs in front of capacity crowd at iconic MCG yesterday. Adoring Indian admires of about 90,000 mostly Indians enjoyed the match to their hears content as Indians out played South Africa in all departments of the game on a day when Melbourne was sweating with sultry condition of 31+ degree heat and humidity. The waves of blues on the terrace could make one forget whether the match was played at Melbourne of Mumbai.

Winning the toss and batting first India did not put a foot wrong other than a horrible mix up leading to run out of Rohit Sharma at the very outset. On the easy paced wicket India put up a massive score of 307/7 which apparently was felt at least 20-30 short given the platform so expertly created by wonderful batting of Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinka Rahane. But India bowling very smartly as a team and fielding very sharp and agile suffocated protean batsmen getting 177 all out. India winning big against Pakistan and South Africa are now happily placed as leader of Pool B and in all possibilities will stay there.

India was not looking good all through Australian summer. They were by far the second best against Australia in tests and were distant third in the Carlton mid tri nation ODI tournament. But come the world cup. India completely changed into a well-oiled machine. At Adelaide against traditional rival Pakistan and yesterday at MCG against South Africa the team appeared with intent and finished clinically. Not only MCG looked like Mumbai even MCG wicket appeared like any Indian wicket which took away lot of venom from South African bowlers and aided Indian spinners. But credit must be given to Dhoni’s army for superb all round display of wonderfully aggressive cricket.

All roads of Melbourne led to MCG from around 11 AM. From our house at Ringwood to MCG is usually a half an hour’s drive .We started at 11:30 and could reach MCG at 2 PM and failed to get a parking in allotted areas adjacent to MCG. With the match starting at 2:30 PM we desperately parked at a place for two hours and could enjoy the match from inside MCG only till 5PM. The high ambient temperature and the heat of near capacity crowd also made us leave the stadium early. But nevertheless we could witness a superlative batting display of aggressive Shikhar Dhawan scoring 137 off 146 balls with 16 fours and two sixes.

Shikhar struggled all through the summer with his form. But back to back in two world cup matches he rediscovered his touch. He played several delightful strokes drives, pulls and hooks. Amla failed to grab a very difficult chance off him at point. Otherwise it was flawless innings. Talented Virat Kohli gave him company in 127 second wicket partnership before getting wonderfully caught by du Plessis off Imran Tahir for 46 carefully composed runs. South Africans could somehow control Indian run rate till Kohli got out at 136/2 at 28th Over. But, little Rahane coming at the wicket changed the tempo completely. His explosive batting changed the tempo of a tiring attack on the hot day. He was particularly severe on Parnell striking him with consecutive sparkling strokes .South Africa was one bowler short with Philander having hamstring issues after his 4 Th over. Rahane scored fiery 79 runs in 60 balls raising the tempo of the innings before getting trapped in front of a wonderful delivery of world’s premiere bowler Dayle Steyn.  Quality South Africans getting a sniff could restrict India to some extent at this stage as neither Raina nor Dhoni and others could inflict greater damage. At one stage it seemed that India could post 330 -340 runs. But it ended at 307/7 still huge in such a contest. Chasing under lights in front of near 90,000 fans cheering full throat can perplex even the best of the best.

All Indian bowlers bowled to a plan and fielders were looking sharp and agile. Dhoni was very precise in setting field, shuffling bowlers and in his strategy against each protean batsman. While Yadav and Shami bowled with pace, Mohit bowled very intelligently in perfect length and direction. South Africans lost the way and appeared nervous after losing the openers early. None but du Plesiss could show restraints. Two unnecessary run outs of AB de Villiers and David Miller also hurt them badly .They were never in the contest as Dhoni making smart bowling changes and his team responding positively shut South Africa completely out of the game . Only du Plessis (55) could play an innings of any substance .Five batsmen could not even reach double figures. South Africa did not look like a team vying for the championship. Shami (2/30) Mohit Sharma (2/31), Ravi Ashwin ( 3/41,  Jadeja ( 1 /37) all bowled as doctor ordered .

We must write a few words about wonderful Indian fans. They came from all directions invading MCG. This was inspiring .The MCG was completely a sea of blue. The noise of Indians cheering was deafening. This must have given a shot in the arm for the Dhoni’s men. It is not only at MCG wherever in the world Indian team play an important cricket match adoring fans flock in numbers. Even legend Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was there to inspire his compatriots.

BDST: 0903 HRS, FEB 23, 2015