Sunday, November 5, 2023

India vs South Africa World Cup 2023 LIVE: IND opt to bat and announce unchanged XI; Shamsi replaces Coetzee for SA

13:41 (IST)

India vs South Africa LIVE

Teams:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi

13:41 (IST)

India vs South Africa LIVE

Rohit Sharma: Looks like a good pitch. It’s about what we want to do as a team, and whatever the conditions are we want to challenge ourselves. It’s going to be a good game. Two teams on top of the table, playing some consistent cricket. I love it here, love playing here. As a team as well. It’s a beautiful, historic ground. We’re playing the same team. Don’t think we need to change anything.


Temba Bavuma: Looking at the wicket, we would have batted first. Will be a nice challenge for us. That’s an area of the game we’d like to gain confidence in. We’ve obviously done well batting first. We put in good all-round performances with the bat. Bowlers have put up their hands as well. So far so good in terms of our performance. Only one change — Tabraiz Shamsi comes in place of Gerald Coetzee.

13:34 (IST)

India vs South Africa LIVE

TOSS: India win the toss and skipper Rohit Sharma opts to bat

13:23 (IST)

India vs South Africa LIVE

Ravi Shastri and Irfan Pathan take a look at the Eden pitch ahead of the India-South Africa game:


“It’s a lot better on the surface than the previous game between Pakistan and Bangladesh. There was a hint of turn, but it became better to bat with the dew [during that game]. There's a lot more spots today and I think it will assist spinners. The colour of pitch was white but it has got some tan now.”

13:19 (IST)

India vs South Africa

South Africa batting in a nutshell this tournament: Scores of 428, 311, 399, 382 and 357. Quinton de Kock with four centuries and a collective 545 runs. Aiden Markram (362), Rassie van der Dussen (353), Heinrich Klaasen (315) and David Miller have been among the runs as well

13:12 (IST)

AB de Villiers on Virat Kohli: “There are many things I know (laughs) about especially his younger years, but unfortunately, I am not going to talk about them. Virat loves dark chocolate. Dark chocolates are his dark secret, always got a piece somewhere. I think that’s how he trains mentally. That’s his mental toughness. He looks at dark chocolates and tells himself, you are not allowed to take it. That’s his mental preparation before a game.” 

“The other thing about Virat is that he’s such a softie. When he’s not playing, there’s a soft gentleman who loves his alone time. He loves to be in his room. Obviously with his wife and his little one. There’s a soft side to Virat that not many people have seen before, and I’ve been lucky to be a part of it.” 

13:04 (IST)

India vs South Africa LIVE

"We are trying to not even think about who we are playing. It's all about us. It's about our preparation, our planning, and whether we can execute our skills." - Rahul Dravid

13:04 (IST)

India vs South Africa LIVE

India clincher - India looked smooth, calm and composed when chasing in the first five matches. Then England put India to bat first and the Men in Blue struggled on a challenging pitch yet posted a competitive total. The bowlers then defended the target with aplomb. In the most recent outing, India walloped Sri Lanka by a massive 302 runs

With Bavuma alluding to an extra spin option, will Ashwin come in if India go that route as well? However, they could stick to the combination that has worked well.

13:00 (IST)

India vs South Africa LIVE

"Playing at Eden Gardens is an occasion, but it does become another game of cricket." - Temba Bavuma

12:58 (IST)

India vs South Africa LIVE

South Africa clincher - Temba Bavuma had spoken about the importance of spinners at the Eden Gardens and possibly bringing in a second spinner. So will there by Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj.

South Africa have been sensational when batting first where they've set massive targets and gone on to clinch big wins. They have won five times batting first and lost once batting second, winning another when chasing a modest 271.

12:54 (IST)

India vs South Africa LIVE

What to expect from the conditions at the Eden Gardens? Heat - 32 degrees - humidity - 65%. And the track record says small totals. In the only two games at Eden Gardens in 2023 World Cup:

Netherlands (229) beat Bangladesh (142) by 87 runs

Bangladesh (204) lost to Pakistan (205/3) by 7 Wickets

12:47 (IST)

India vs South Africa World Cup Head to Head

In World Cup encounters too, South Africa hold the upper hand over India. South Africa have 3 wins in 5 matches, with India bagging the other two. South Africa won in 1992, 1999 and 2011 while India have won both their recent meetings in 2015 and 2019

12:40 (IST)

India vs South Africa Head to Head

India and South Africa have met 90 times in ODI cricket with South Africa winning 50, India 37 and three ended without a result. Their most recent meeting was in October 2022 where India won by 7 wickets. It was part of a three-match ODI series which India won 2-1

12:22 (IST)

India vs South Africa LIVE

Both India and South Africa are through to the next round of the Cricket World Cup. However, either of these teams can clinch top spot today with a win. They're going to clash at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata

The top spot is at stake and an unconquered Indian team will certainly feel a sense of deja vu when it takes on a red-hot South Africa on Sunday in what will be a battle of equals in the World Cup.

It promises to be a fascinating contest and Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin can’t escape that “been there in this position” feeling since they were part of the World Cup squad that had a similar run in 2011.

The only game that India had lost in the 2011 edition was against South Africa when an unheralded Robin Peterson had smashed Ashish Nehra for 19 runs after Indian batting imploded in Nagpur despite a hundred from Sachin Tendulkar.

Kohli, who is one short of record-equalling 49th ODI hundred, and Ashwin are the only players in the current squad who were part of India’s title-winning run.

On Sunday, Rohit Sharma’s players need to guard themselves from complacency and emulate the all-conquering Australian team of 2007 which won the World Cup without losing a single game.

A win and 16 points would confirm India’s top spot with a match left against the Netherlands.

South Africa’s batting line-up, filled with power-hitters and game-changers will test India’s ‘pace galacticos’ before the semi-finals.



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