World Cup 2019: Three reasons why India defeated South Africa

Modified Jul 23, 2022 05:11 IST

#2 Indian spinners’ mastery in the middle-overs

South Africa had no answer to India’s spin mastery on Wednesday. The duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav shared five wickets between them, while conceding less than a 100 runs from their combined 20 overs.

As mentioned, the Proteas were 24-2 at an early stage.

Faf du Plessis (38 runs) and Rassie van der Dussen (22) managed to re-group with a partnership of 56 after the early wickets. Just when they looked set, van der Dussen lost his wicket. Chahal bowled the batsman around his legs after the latter attempted a reverse-sweep. This was only the start of South Africa’s woeful batting against India’s spinners.

Still in the 20th over, Chahal bowled du Plessis with a beautifully-flighted ball. JP Duminy was trapped LBW nine runs later, this time by Kuldeep Yadav, and South Africa was in a mess at 89-5.

Chahal took the next two wickets as well to end up with figures of 4-51 from 10 overs.

About the author

Roald Grobler is a positive person who prefers to see the glass as half full.

One of Grobler's biggest passions of the past seven years has been cricket. The 21-year-old is a keen all-rounder who spends his weekends playing club cricket; and some of his most cherished memories have been made on a cricket field.

In his spare time, Grobler loves to write cricket articles for Sportskeeda. After a few years hiatus, he is keen to start writing again and to share the game with you.

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Edited by Aditya Joshi