ICC Champions Trophy 2017, India vs South Africa: The history of their rivalry in the tournament

India’s dramatic loss to Sri Lanka in the Group B tie has given the fans two virtual quarterfinals to look forward to in the group stages that’s turning out to be much tighter than earlier anticipated. Even as Pakistan stunned South Africa to throw open the semi-final race in Group B, Bangladesh defeated New Zealand to once again reiterate their growing influence in this format of the game, even in adverse conditions.

For Indian fans though, their virtual quarterfinal against South Africa is anything but bad news. India has played South Africa three times before the game this Sunday in Champions Trophy and has reached the finals of the tournament every time, defeating South Africa in the process.

Moreover, India’s 3-0 psychological advantage over the Proteas in the Champions Trophy will weigh heavily on the cricketing minds of the game’s perpetual chokers.

As we breeze past the final group-games-turned-knockouts, here is the complete history of the India-South Africa rivalry in the Champions Trophy over the years.

#1 India vs. South Africa, Semi-Finals, ICC Knockout Trophy 2000

A bloated tournament for developing cricket outside the perennial powerhouses, the ICC Knockout Trophy had one of the most bizarre formats you will ever witness in sports. The tournament began with pre-quarterfinals since top five ranked teams of the original eleven were already given a place in the quarters. Eight teams, therefore, kick-started the tournament that was tipped to be the mini-world cup, spread over 12 days.

This game, however, must only be remembered for Sourav Ganguly’s class and nothing else. In a tournament where the ‘Bengal Tiger’ was the highest scorer with a total of 348 runs, Ganguly scored 141 in this game alone.

Having brushed aside the Australians in the quarterfinals, India posted a challenging total of 295 runs at the Gymkhana Club Ground in Nairobi. South Africa, starting off with a stutter that resulted in Kirsten’s run-out, never really recovered.

Some late resistance from Mark Boucher and Lance Klusener was not really enough to overhaul the damage done by Zaheer Khan and Venkatesh Prasad at the start as India bowled out the Africans in just 41 overs.

India though suffered a heart-breaking loss against New Zealand in the finals just two days later, even after restricting the black caps to 132/5 at one point in the game.

#2 India vs. South Africa, Semi-Finals, ICC Champions Trophy 2002

A late flurry with the ball helped India get the better of South Africa

How many times do we witness a team bat 50 overs and come up short chasing just 261? It seems unbelievable now but we have to remember that this was way back in 2002 and the team chasing was South Africa.

India put up a below-par score of 261 at a beautiful batting track in Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, thanks in part to Sehwag’s top order blitzkrieg and Yuvraj’s lower order class.

South Africa, buoyed by Herschelle Gibbs’ 118, needed just 69 runs off the last 14 overs before they decided to blow their cricketing brains all over the pitch starting with Gibbs’ retired hurt. The team, thereon, fell like nine pins and Kallis was partly blamed for the eventual loss scoring at a paltry strike rate of 72.93.

India once again slayed the African nation in the semi-finals of the then rechristened ICC Champions Trophy. The tournament though suffered an identity crisis, as even after three weeks of play no single team won the tournament (India and Sri Lanka shared the trophy) thanks to some wise owl who thought a tournament in the middle of the second monsoon in Sri Lanka was a good idea.

#3 India vs. South Africa, Group Game, ICC Champions Trophy 2013

Shikhar Dhawan was the star of the show on this occasion

After more than a decade, India and South Africa faced each other in Champions Trophy again in 2013. With Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan at the top, the Indian team looked almost the same as the starting XI right now with the exception of Suresh Raina.

After putting India in to bat, the South Africans struggled to find breakthroughs as Dhawan took apart the Proteas’ line-up like confetti. When Dhawan and Kohli fell in quick succession, Jadeja’s quickfire 47 off just 29 balls put India in a commanding position at the break, with South Africa staring up at a mountainous chase of 332.

The second half of the game was a roller coaster of brilliant passages of play and occasional slip-ups by SA. Peterson and De Villiers sculpted a stuttering chase even as Indian bowlers nibbled away with the wickets. South Africa might have lost that game by 26 runs but it was a lot closer than what the scorecard shows.

India, this time carried this form all the way to a second ICC Champions Trophy title with a win over hosts England.

This leaves us with the all-important knockout clash between India and South Africa on Sunday that will complete the semifinal line-up of editions Champions Trophy. South Africa will be under the pump especially after their dismal performance against Pakistan and India will look to bounce back as title defenders after being handed a reality check by Sri Lanka. Both teams will come out hard and it goes without saying that the better side will book a berth in the semis, weather gods permitting.