WC'11: South Africa beat India by 3 wickets

NEW DELHI: Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers slammed fifty apiece to help South Africa chase down 297-run target against India in their World Cup clash at the VCA stadium in Nagpur on Saturday.

Faf du Plessis (25 not out) and Robin Peterson (18 not out) hold their nerves to lead South Africa to three-wicket victory over India with two balls to spare. The duo added unbeaten 21-run for the eighth wicket.

Du Plessis hit a six in his 23-ball inning whereas Peterson smacked two fours and a six in his 7-ball cameo.

Johan Botha also played a useful innings of 23 runs coming at No. 8 before he became Munaf Patel's second victim. Botha hit a six and two fours in his 15-ball knock.

Munaf also trapped wicket-keeper batsman Morne van Wyk (5) soon after Harbhajan scalped Duminy and dangerous AB de Villiers.

Duminy slammed a six and two fours in his 20-ball cameo, whereas de Villiers smashed a six and half-a-dozen fours in his 39-ball blitzkrieg. The duo added crucial 50-run stand for the fourth wicket.

A brilliant glove-work by India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni led to Kallis' run out in the 36th over.

Jacques Kallis (69) hit four boundaries in his 88-ball cautious knock and added 46-run stand with AB de Villiers.

Kallis completed his 81st ODI fifty after Harbhajan Singh gave India a much needed breakthrough as the off-spinner claimed in-form Hashim Amla (61).

Amla hit five boundaries in his patient 72-ball inning as he notched up his 13th one-day half-century. Amla added valuable 86-run stand with Kallis for the second wicket to lead South African run-chase against India.

Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan dismissed South African skipper Graeme Smith (16) to give India their first breakthrough in Nagpur.

South Africa openers Smith and Hashim Amla started their run-chase cautiously against the co-hosts. Smith was more cautious than his partner as he hit just two fours and played 29 balls to score 16.

After electing to bat first, India were off to a rollicking start with 142-run opening stand followed by 125-run second wicket partnership before a bizarre batting collapse restricted them to below 300 runs.

South African bowlers fought back strongly after Sachin Tendulkar's record World Cup century to bowl India out for 296 in their Group B clash.

In a dramatic batting collapse, India lost nine wickets for just 29 runs in nine overs as they were bowled out in 48.4 overs.

India lost momentum soon after centurion Tendulkar (111) got out in the 40th over as they lost wickets at regular intervals against the Proteas.

India have century partnerships for the first two wickets and looked like scoring at least 350 as they were 267/2 in 39.4 overs when Sachin got out.

South African pacer Dale Steyn dismissed Yusuf Pathan (0) and Gambhir (69) in one over to halt India's run charge. Steyn double-strike came soon after Morne Morkel got rid of centurion Sachin Tendulkar (111) in the previous over.

Steyn finished with 5 wickets for 50 runs in his 9.4 overs, his first five-wicket haul in one-day internationals.

Virat Kohli (1) and Yuvraj Singh (12) then got out in consecutive overs to add to India's misery as South African put a break to their march.

Before walking back to pavilion, Tendulkar raced to his record sixth World Cup hundred off just 92 balls. Tendulkar hit three huge sixes and eight fours in his 48th ODI and 99th international century.

This is the little master's second century of the tournament after hitting 120 against England in the thrilling tied match in Bangalore.

After maestro's ton, Gautam Gambhir completed his 23rd ODI fifty as he smashed seven boundaries in his 75-ball knock.

Virender Sehwag edged a Faf du Plessis delivery onto his stumps as India lost their first wicket with 142 runs on the board after 17.4 overs.

Sehwag hit 12 fours in his swashbuckling knock of 73 off 66 balls.

With a fiery start, Sehwag and Tendulkar took India to 87/0 in 10 overs.

This is the highest score so far in the mandatory batting Powerplay in this World Cup and it consisted of 12 fours and a six. That six was hit by Tendulkar off Dale Steyn as the Master rocked on the back foot and hooked the ball over fine leg - a shot he brought out of his repertoire after many years.

Sehwag started from the word go hitting the first delivery of the match from Steyn to the mid-wicket fence. Thus Sehwag has started his five World Cup innings so far by slamming boundaries off the very first ball he faced in each innings.

Earlier, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat.

source: TOI