CT 2017: Match 11, Who Said What: India vs South Africa

The first of the two virtual quarterfinals from Group B finally took place at the Kennington Oval, London between the two powerhouses of World Cricket, i.e., India and South Africa. After winning the toss, Virat Kohli had no hesitation to bowl first, keeping in mind his reputation of being the chase-masters.

When the time arrived, South Africans choked yet again and they lost some key batsmen by run-outs. South Africans could just manage a total of 191 even after the starts provided by Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock. Both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah picked up a couple of wickets each to stand out within the Indian bowlers.

Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli eased past the South African score with their respective half-centuries. Yuvraj Singh hit the final blow to knock out South Africa from the tournament and book their spot in the semi-finals. Jasprit Bumrah was adjudged as the man of the match for his bowling efforts.

Jasprit Bumrah

MoM Bumrah expressed his joy after witnessing their plans being executed during the crunch match. He also added that he enjoyed his bowling with the new ball, sticking to line and length and not experimenting much. Citing the importance of Morris, Bumrah stated that he enjoyed taking the wicket of the allrounder.

It was an important game for us. We were looking forward to the game. We wanted to be calm and wanted to execute our plans in this game, so it worked out for us. I was happy to bowl with the new ball. We contained well at the start. The ball wasn’t swinging, so we wanted to stick to a tight line, not give them room. That was the basic plan for us. Morris can be dangerous in this situation, so it was good to get his wicket. It was a good toss to win and bowl first because the wickets haven’t be helping the fast bowlers. Chasing has been relatively easier.

Virat Kohli

Winning captain Virat Kohli revealed that it was a good toss to win and see the back of AB de Villiers early in the match. Kohli lauded the efforts of Shikhar Dhawan and gave a preview on their semi-final at Edgbaston. He concluded by saying that there still is a room for improvement in their game.

It was a good toss to win. The wicket didn’t change much. Our bowlers bowled really well. Always good to get him (AB) out early. He can really hurt you in the middle overs. It was important for someone to bat till the end. Shikhar was batting very well. Even Yuvi wanted to finish the game along with me to take some confident to the semis. We played in Birmingham. We really like that stadium and we really like that pitch as well. It suits out style of cricket as well. There’s always room for improvement. Any game of cricket whether you win or lose, there is always something to improve.

AB de Villiers

The dissapointed captain seemed heart-broken about the result as they yet again failed to progress through a knock-out round in an ICC event. He admitted that it was difficult for his team to shift the momentum of the game. Mr. 360 concluded by saying  that his team lost to a better side on the day.

“It’s not an ideal way to finish the tournament. Very disappointing. Credit to them in those first 15-20 overs in the field. They had great intensity, they didn’t miss the mark very often. They put pressure on us, going at 3 and half or 4 an over. That’s not the way we usually bat. We got something going until those run-outs that cost us dearly today. We never got going. We were hoping to play a better game of cricket today. They bowled pretty well. They didn’t miss the mark at all. We had a lot of soft dismissal.

With this win, India becomes the third side to qualify for the semi-finals and would be gearing up against Bangladesh in he second semi-finals of the match.