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| Shikhar Dhawan |
India beat South
Africa by 26 runs in the first one day international of
the ICC Champions Trophy at Cardiff in Wales on
Thursday. It was a high scoring entertainer with both teams getting more than 300
runs each. It was the first one day match at Cardiff where the team batting first won and
the chasing team also crossed 300 runs for the first time. Maybe due to the new
one-day cricket rules the Cardiff
pitch made its reputation of being a batting one a little stronger.
On a windy and
chilly morning South Africa
won the toss and put India
in. India
made a rollicking start thanks to a opening partnership of 127 runs between
Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma who opened as Murli Vijay was rested. A sensational
new-find Dhawan went on to score his maiden one-day century (114) and was around
till the 38th over. The initial momentum of the innings was
maintained throughout despite fall of too many wickets in the latter phase. The
target of 332/7 looked mammoth and decisive, but the Cardiff pitch did not flinch an inch. A late
charge by all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (47 not out) helped achieving the big
total.
South Africa
started shakily, but soon raced to a commanding position thanks to a well-paced
partnership between Peterson (68) and AB deVilliers (70). The run-out of
Peterson proved to be a turning point putting the match back in India’s favor. However,
the highest individual score was yet to come. All-rounder McLaren played a
ruthlessly effortless innings of 71 and with good contributions from others
again threatened to snatch the match away. Exceptional Indian fielding and effectively
utilized spinners finally sealed the victory for Team India. South Africa
maintained a terrific run-rate throughout enough for winning the game, but lost
too many wickets for the effort. They ended up for 305 giving a margin to 26
runs which hardly set the rivals wide apart. The Scorecard:
A new-look Team India rocked by
spot fixing and all cross connections and corruption did quite well to start
with a win. They can rest and regroup well for the next match.
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