India beat South Africa and show strong signs of defending the World cup

Match referee might have mentioned that South Africa is the Home team, while handing over the coin for toss, however MCG turnout of 87000 people convinced every one that India was the Home team. Dhoni called the toss right and Batsmen did their job right, Bowlers defended it right and fielders were outstanding left, centre and right...

Rohit was unlucky to have got run out in the 2nd over, a brilliant piece of run out by De-Villiers. Dhawan and Kohli partnership continued from where they left against Pakistan. At the end of 15 Overs, Indians were 61 and did a good job of giving the 1st 15 overs to the bowlers. South African captain predicted this approach from Indian Batsmen and to upset the rhythm, he introduced Duminy and Imran Tahir within the first hour. Our Batsmen exhibited the calm approach and kept the wickets intact.

Shikhar Dhawan was absolutely brilliant with his choice of shots and once Kohli got out, a right-left formula ensured that Ajinkya Rahane walked in to support Dhawan. Rahane should be complemented for his audacious shot making and brilliant sense of placement. A very romantic innings from him made sure that Dhawan could focus on the big one this time. Rahane came in at a crucial time when the team required him to keep the momentum on and he held most of the strike. Dhawan's 137 has to be one of the best knocks of the World cup History, as it came from an Indian in a world cup in Australian conditions.

The Duo notched a 125 run partnership within span of 16 overs at 7.8 runs per over and set it up for the lower order to take us past 300 yet again. Dhoni's Hat-trick of fours was highlight in last 5 overs, apart from India losing 5 wickets. India posted 307 at the end of 50 overs and South Africans would have felt that it was a chasable score considering their batting line up and more so, as Duminy and Miller scored hundreds in their previous match against Zimbabwe.

Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav, bowled quick, at high 140 Ks and did not allow the Openers off to a flier. De Kock and Amla were not at all timing the ball as the quick ones from our bowlers did not hit the sweet spots of their bat. A very soft dismissal of De Kock getting caught at mid off provided early break through and a double blow, when Mohit Sharma bowled a quick bouncer that made Amla to hook the ball without control to deep fine leg fielder. Most surprising thing for viewers was the fact that Indian bowlers were bowling consistent bouncers to the opposition, but with more pace.

De-Villiers and Faf du plessis looked threatening to build a solid partnership, as they played smart shots to unsettle our spinners. De-Villiers' run out opened the doors for Indians to choke them and get them all out for a paltry 177. The two run outs made by Mohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav was an exhibition of superb out-fielding by our young fast bowlers. Dhoni was too good with his glove work to make AB De Villiers and Miller shot of their crease.

The Run out of AB De Villiers was a turning point for another reason best known to Ashwin. He could bowl more deliveries to Left hand batsmen and instill pressure on them. Miller was aggressive, but his run out was a waste of wicket. J P Duminy played a reverse sweep to disturb the rhythm of Ashwin, but edged it to Raina in slips. Philander got out to a beautiful off-spinner from the same bowler, getting trapped leg before the wicket. Mohit Sharma picked up 2 crucial wickets and Tail enders was swept by Jadeja and Shami to earn India a comprehensive win over South Africa.

On the one hand, Indian team is truly playing like a champion and has sent a strong message to other teams, that they have to be on top of their game to beat the Indians. On the other hand, Indian team should not look too deep into the tournament at this stage and take the opponents like West Indies, Ireland, Zimbabwe too lightly. Dhoni's calmness would drill down on the players and his attitude of Living in the moment would augur well for the Indian team to top the Pool B at the end of all group matches.

West Indies in current form would play against Indians in Perth. Prior to that, they would meet South Africa, which would be the most important match to look out for in Pool B, in the near future. India would have played UAE and added 2 more points to their tally before their clash with West Indies in Perth. There is a good chance that Ireland might pip Pakistan out of the World cup in first round similar to 2007 world cup. One cannot wait for the Knock out stages to begin already...

Another World cup Loss for Team Pakistan against India...

Virat Kohli has become a big name in World cricket and World cup is an ideal stage for champions like him. He has definitely set the stage rolling for India to defend the World cup. Performance such as this would rub onto others and brings the best out of every one. Aaron Finch, Brendon Macullum did it for their teams too, but Kohli's innings was special as he was out of form prior to this match.

Cautious approach by the top order batsmen and Partnerships won the match for India against the Arch-Rivals on Sunday. Rohit Sharma started off very cautiously along with Dhawan and both of them left and defended the balls brilliantly. A rush of blood costed Rohit Sharma his wicket, but Dhawan was in no hurry, as he and Kohli ran well between the wickets and rotated the strike thereby building a strong partnership. Only a Run out could have broken the partnership and that is exactly what happened when Misbah ran Dhawan out. Dhoni kept the Right-Left combination going on when he sent Raina ahead of Rahane and Suresh Raina mixed caution with aggression and made sure that Kohli focused on the big Hundred.

Virat Kohli was so upset, when Dhawan got run out and Suresh Raina was so elated, when Kohli reached Hundred, that he started celebrating even before Kohli's fist pumped the air - A clear testimony to the bond that this team has. During the fielding and bowling effort, the celebrations went to another level, as this team yearns for each other's success.

Saeed Ajmal was missed on this crucial encounter, as he would have kept a check on flow of runs throughout the innings and a regular wicket keeper was also missed as Umar Akmal dropped the catch behind the stumps. Umar Gul and Sohail Tanveer might have been handy, considering their international exposure, but they were not picked for the World cup. Having said that, Sohail Khan and Wahab bowled excellently, constantly hitting 150k in the speed gun. However, they could not stop India from scoring 300. Afridi and Yasir were very ordinary as Indians attacked them in right patches. Sohail Khan deserved his 5 wicket haul, but his wickets came too late in India's innings, by which we had posted a match winning score.

The pressure of chasing 300 in a world cup and that too an India Pakistan encounter did not augur well for Pakistanis. Mohammed Shami surprised Younis Khan with a quick off-cutter bouncer, which was gloved to Dhoni behind the stumps. The 2nd wicket Partnership between Ahmed Shehzad and Harris Sohail provided hope, but Ashwin bowled a lovely little spell to remove left hander Harris, who edged it to Raina in slips - A classical off spinner dismissal!! What followed was expected. Pakistan collapsed by losing the next 3 wickets for 3 runs on the board. Shehzad square cut the wide delivery from Umesh Yadav into the hands of Jadeja at Point. Two balls later, Maqsood edged another wide delivery from Yadav to Raina in slips and 2 overs later, Umar Akmal was given caught behind off the bowling of Jadeja. Pakistan score board read 106 for 5 and the whole world knew that match was sealed by Indians at that point itself.

Umesh Yadav might leak runs, but his pace might unsettle any batsmen. Though he did not bowl wicket taking deliveries consistently, Credit should be given to Dhoni for trusting him and bringing him back after he leaked 30 odd runs from his initial 3 overs. Dhoni started to choke the opponents with his bowling changes and field placements, which never allowed Misbah and Afridi to feel confident that they are still in the hunt. He kept on rotating the bowlers and Afridi fell for another full toss, trying to heave it outside Adelaide, off the bowling of Shami. Harbhajan singh would have had a smile in his face seeing it, as in 2011, he used the full toss tactic to dismiss Afridi.

The pick of the Indian bowlers, undoubtedly was Mohit Sharma, who dried the runs at crucial times, followed by Ashwin and Shami. Jadeja and Yadav has to be more consistent and complement the bowlers from other end. Fielding was top notch. Bowling is still a weak link and if we keep getting better, we would be a force to reckon with and one would definitely see India going beyond Quarter finals too. Next target is South Africa and then, we have series of matches to practice well before the knock out stage. Pool B might see upsets and there is a good chance that we might have a non-test playing nation in the Quarter finals. But, India would not be affected because of it, as morale would be very high, after beating the Arch-Rivals...