ICC World Cup 2015: Defending Champions Team India Crush South Africa in Melbourne Today

Indian bowlers delivered excellent performance in the league match that was played against South Africa in Melbourne today. South Africa was given the target of 308 runs but was all out for 177 runs. India won the toss and elected to bat first. Team India scored 307 runs for the loss of seven wickets in specified 50 overs.

Melbourne: Team India faced South Africa in three matches in World Cups but did not win a single match. Dhoni’s team was eager to create record by winning the match. The defending champions excelled in all departments today above the expectations. This is the second win for Team India in the tourney.

India defeated South Africa by 130 runs. India rewrote the tradition of not winning a single match against South Africa in World Cup tourneys. Dhawan’s super century and the bowlers performance are the highlights of the match.

South India was all out for 177 runs in 401.2 overs. Ashwin claimed three wickets, Mohit and Shami two each. Duplessis is the top scorer for South Africa. He scored 55 runs.

India won the toss and elected to bat first. Opener Dhawan faced 146 balls and scored unbeatable 137 runs with 16 fours and 2 sizes. Rahane scored 79 in 60 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes. This is the seventh century for Dhawan in one day matches and second against South Africa. Another young batsmen Virat Kohli scored 46 runs. Morkel took two wickets.

India lost its opener Rohit Sharma without scoring any runs. Dhawan and Kohli played responsibly. Both of them added 127 runs to the second wickets. Kohli gave catch to Duplessis in the bowling of Tahir. Rahane joined Dhawan and both of them added 125 runs to the third wicket. The score reached 250 mark in their partnership. Dhoni scored 18 runs.

Indian bowlers took wickets at regular intervals and restricted South African batsmen from making big partnerships. Opener De Cock was out when his personal score was seven. Another opener Amla also could not stand in the crease for long. De Villiers and Duplessis tried hard and added 68 runs to the third wicket. After De Villiers was run out, South Arica never recovered. Jadeja send Tahir back to the pavilion which ended the South Africa innings.