SA vs WI: De Villiers hits a ton as SA win by 7 wickets

South African batsman Abraham Benjamin de Villiers celebrated his century as his team-mates celebrated a fine seven wicket win over the West Indies in New Delhi on Thursday. 

Chasing a meagre 223 for victory in their World Cup Group B match at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium, the South Africans reached the target in the 43rd over.

Their chase was disrupted by light showers post the 38th over when the team total was 199/ 3 with de Villiers batting on 97 and J.P. Duminy on 28. The match resumed within minutes giving de Villiers an opportunity to complete his ton.

De Villiers remained unbeaten on 107 and Duminy on 42

However, the Proteas didn't get off to a good start losing early wickets in their chase. First they lost their opener Hashim Amla and then it was the big-match player Jacques Kallis to walk off the crease with 4 runs written against his name. 

Both wickets fell in controversial fashion. In case of Amla (14), paceman Kemar Roach had overstepped slightly while bowling and Kallis had just walked off after being caught by skipper Darren Sammy in the slip off left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn. There was doubt that the ball had carried off his bat. South Africa fell to 20/2 in 5 overs. Whatever the case, the spinner-pacer combination worked well for the West Indies.

But South Africa, considering the form that they are in, had little reason to worry and their skipper Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers went about their business as usual. The two put on an impressive 119 runs for third wicket milking the opposition bowlers at ease.

Their partnership lasted for more than an hour and erased away the early advantage that the Windies had earned. Finally in the 29th over, paceman Kieron Pollard curved in a delivery to left-hander Smith and uprooted his off-stump on 139/3. Smith fell for 45. 

West Indies innings

West Indies were all out for 222 as the opposition bowlers tightened the noose at death.

South Africa skipper Graeme Smith put the Windies in the middle and West Indies opener Chris Gayle departed on the third ball of the match with offie Johan Botha claiming his wicket.

A surprising decision by South Africa skipper Graeme Smith to give the ball to off-spinner Johan Botha in the very first over. But, the moved paid off as in the third ball of the over he struck to send danger-man Chris Gayle back into the pavilion.

A good length ball from Botha pitched outside off took the edge off Gayle's bat to and Jacques Kallis did the rest in the first slip. West Indies slumped to 2/1 in the very first over.

One wicket down early on but West Indies had little to fear as their other opener Devon Smith and new man Darren Bravo continued to bat on and frustrate the Protea bowlers. The duo put on 111 for the second wicket before a change in bowling accounted for Bravo on 113/2.

On this occasion too it was Botha, who did the trick, claiming him Leg Before. Bravo scored a fine 73 off 82 balls. Post his dismissal Smith too fell on 117/3 with another spinner Imran Tahir claiming his wicket on 36.

Tahir struck again to scalp another danger-man Ramnaresh Sarwan when the West Indies score was 120. He only put two on board before a LBW decision send him back.

Then Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwyane Bravo got on with another partnership. They put on 58 runs for fifth wicket before Bravo got run out on 40. The Windies score at this juncture was 178/5 in 37.5 overs.

However, post Dwyane Bravo's wicket the West Indies batting line-up faltered and they lost quick wickets. Chanderpaul departed when the score was 209/6 and South African paceman Dale Steyn claimed Kieron Pollard on a duck when the score was 213/7. From here on things became easy for the Protea pacers, who got busy counting the opposition scalps.

West Indies could only manage to put 222 on board and were bowled out in the 48th over.

Source:-http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/130780/sports/sa-vs-wi-match-report.html

Revenge is foremost on India's mind

It's revenge time for India. The unexpected defeat at the hands of Bangladesh during the 2007 World Cup is still fresh in the minds of most Indian players and avenging that loss will be on top of their must-do agenda as they clash with the co-hosts in the opening match of the World Cup in Dhaka on Saturday.

That defeat was instrumental in sending India out of the tournament in the first round itself and the hurt can still be felt in the Indian camp. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni just doesn't want to talk about it. "Never even thought about it because we don't want to repeat what happened in 2007," he said on the eve of the big game that millions of people are looking forward to. In several ways, the result of the day-night encounter at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium could set the tone for the 14-nation, 45-day tournament. If it turns out to be a closely fought encounter, it will be a good advertisement for the 50-over format - which some people feel is under threat from Twenty20 - and will make investors/advertisers and some others smile.

Already, an anonymous punter has put a bet of £82,000 bet - the biggest ever laid on a one-day game - with a London bookmaker on India winning the World Cup. But Dhoni would again not like to think about it, otherwise it would add to the pressure on him. Bangladesh have managed to eke out only two wins in 22 matches against India in more than 22 years of bilateral ODI history, but the one they managed on March 17, 2007, was the most telling. And when Dhoni, who failed to score in that game but took three catches, goes out for the toss, his mind would surely go back to that defeat.

He may have given a new name to pressure, "added responsibility", but he can't just shrug it away from his mind. One consolation for India is that pacer Mashrafe Mortaza, who bagged four wickets and was man of the match in that game, is not in the team. Seven of the 11 players who lost that game are still in the Indian team and would be itching to avenge that embarrassment.

Interestingly, India and Bangladesh could be in different mindsets as they returned contrasting results just before the World Cup. While India lost the five-match ODI series 2-3 in South Africa last month, Bangladesh blanked New Zealand 4-0 at home and then thrashed Zimbabwe 3-1 in December and would be high on confidence.

For India, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan is suspected to be a doubtful starter due to an injury. But Dhoni was confident he would play. "Zaheer is fit as of now. I have not spoken to the physio. If there is something, I will let you know," he said. Left-armer Zaheer bowled at the nets on Friday evening, but did not go full throttle. Maybe, Dhoni wants to preserve him for the more important matches coming ahead. Maybe, the bowler is still not 100 per cent match fit. The answers will be known on Saturday afternoon when Dhoni exchanges the team sheets with his Bangladesh counterpart Shakib Al Hasan at the toss.

Dhoni said spinners could play a big role in the tournament as pitches in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka largely support slow bowlers. Bangladesh too would depend largely on spinners, who happen to be their strength, especially on home turf.

The India skipper too acknowledged this. "All three Bangladesh spinners are good. They have got two good part-timers who can bowl off-spin and leg-spin. It's a good side. In the sub-continent, they rely a lot on their spinners because here they get more assistance than anywhere else," he said.

Shakib was gung ho about Bangladesh's prospects. "Our bowlers are in good form, the batsmen have been doing their job and our fielding has improved a lot," he said, looking confident.

"This tournament is not only about playing India. We have six league matches to play and we have to perform in all of them. If we get our basics right, we will do well."

Bangladesh will no doubt receive wholehearted support from vociferous home fans. But the experienced Indian players are not new to playing and winning in adverse conditions. And they are expected to do the same on Saturday.

Source:-http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/130298/top-stories/world-cup-team-india-seeks-revenge-for-2007-defeat.html