Partnership of the Day

Dhawan, Kohli seal semi-final berth with commanding win

Shikhar Dhawan became the highest scorer in this year's Champions Trophy, with 271 runs from 3 matches

Shikhar Dhawan became the fastest to 1000 runs in ICC tournaments  •  AFP

Shikhar Dhawan became the fastest to 1000 runs in ICC tournaments  •  AFP

Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli, with an impressive 128-run stand for the second wicket, handed India a semi-final berth by comfortably beating a dysfunctional South Africa by eight wickets in the Champion's Trophy in Kennington Oval on Sunday.
Batting first, the Proteas struggled against an India seam unit that kept a tight leash on a slow surface that offered no bounce or seam movement. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah cramped openers, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla with a probing line. Despite a neat display, South Africa's top four got starts, but they failed to capitalize. A dysfunctional batting display was capped by AB de Villiers, David Miller and Imran Tahir being run out. They managed just 191 in their innings.
Rohit Sharma's dismissal in the sixth over was the only blip in the run chase, as Dhawan and Kohli methodically set about stablilzing the innings. The duo took their time to step on the gas and at one stage even a string of 17 dots didn't cause panic in India's ranks. Dhawan followed up the lean phase with consecutive boundaries of Morne Morkel in the 10th over, while Kohli announced his intentions with a six over mid-off, off Andile Phehlukwayo. The duo scored at 5.18 run in the 24.4 overs that they batted together. Dhawan finally departed in the 31st over for 78, with 12 fours and one six. Kohli remained unbeaten on 76 and, alongside Yuvraj Singh, took India home with 72 balls to spare.