India v South Africa
Wisden's review of the eleventh match, India v South Africa
Hugh Chevallier
11-Apr-2018
At The Oval, June 11. India won by eight wickets. Toss: India.
In a quarter-final in all but name, India sauntered to a facile win that booted South Africa out of the tournament. A side ranked No. 1 have rarely played so atrociously - unless it was a previous South Africa buckling under pressure - yet de Villiers said he hoped to remain captain since he was good at running the team. Possibly, though his team were no good at running 22 yards, as three runouts confirmed. In truth, they weren't good at much. On a Forrest Gump of a pitch - slow but honest - the openers did best, even if a little urgency might not have gone amiss. Both fell looking to up the tempo, which was also du Plessis's aim when, at a steady 140 for two in the 29th, he called his captain for an illusory single. Smart work from Pandya and Dhoni beat de Villiers's headlong lunge.
In a quarter-final in all but name, India sauntered to a facile win that booted South Africa out of the tournament. A side ranked No. 1 have rarely played so atrociously - unless it was a previous South Africa buckling under pressure - yet de Villiers said he hoped to remain captain since he was good at running the team. Possibly, though his team were no good at running 22 yards, as three runouts confirmed. In truth, they weren't good at much. On a Forrest Gump of a pitch - slow but honest - the openers did best, even if a little urgency might not have gone amiss. Both fell looking to up the tempo, which was also du Plessis's aim when, at a steady 140 for two in the 29th, he called his captain for an illusory single. Smart work from Pandya and Dhoni beat de Villiers's headlong lunge.
The rest of the side picked up the cue, and nosedived towards oblivion: five balls later, Miller and du Plessis raced to the same end in a comedy classic, and the third umpire had to contain his laughter long enough to determine who was out. Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar deployed intelligent changes of pace and angle, but a rattled South Africa were happy to do their jobs for them.
And the last wicket, which ended a disintegration of eight for 51, brought more slapstick when Duminy and Imran Tahir got themselves in a schoolboy yes-no-maybe mid-pitch pickle. Against India's imperious batting and in such unthreatening conditions, a target of 192 was barely a molehill. Even so, Sharma stumbled, before Dhawan and Kohli collected unflustered fifties. The crushing victory meant India were almost certain to face Bangladesh in the semis rather than England.
Man of the Match: J. J. Bumrah
Man of the Match: J. J. Bumrah