Captain AB de Villiers led from the front as he led an all-round display that thrashed the India Champions by 88 runs. AB de Villiers showed his class first with the bat and then as a leader as the defending champions were brought down to their knees by the South African champions. AB’s unbeaten 63 off 30 balls alongside crucial contributions from others took the Proteas to 208/6 in 20 overs.
In reply, India Champions never really got going as Aaron Phangiso’s brilliant 3/17 kept India down to 111/9 in 18.2 overs when the floodlight went off and the players decided enough is enough and shook hands. South Africa is getting another win, while India losing their first official game after their game against Pakistan was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.
AB de Villiers’ unbeaten half-century takes South Africa past the 200-run mark.Â
Hashim Amla and Jacques Rudolph came out to bat for South Africa. After a tight couple of overs, Hashim Amla broke the shackles by hitting three boundaries off Vinay Kumar’s over. Amla then took on Abhimanyu Mithun and hit him for a boundary before Rudolph hit him for a boundary. Piyush Chawla came into the attack inside the powerplay and provided the breakthrough for India.
Chawla bowled a length ball on the pads, Amla’s eyes had lit up as he pulled it to deep midwicket and ended up finding Mithun at that position who made no mistake as Amla fell for 22 off 19 balls with 4 boundaries to his name. Sarel Erwee came out to bat at 3 and hit Chawla for a boundary to get off the mark. Stuart Binny came into the attack and was hit for two boundaries by Rudolph and Erwee. At the end of the powerplay, South Africa were off to a solid start at 48/1 after 6 overs.
The Pathan brothers came onto bowl with Erwee hitting Irfan away for a boundary. India got another breakthrough via a run out as Rudolph was the man dismissed thanks to fantastic work by Yuvraj Singh from short third man with the run out completed at the bowler’s end. Captain AB de Villiers entered the scene and got off the mark before Erwee was dismissed by Yusuf Pathan. Fuller length on off-stump turning into the batter, Erwee tried to slog sweep and got beaten. The ball hits the stumps as Erwee departed for 15 off 12 balls with 3 boundaries to his name. JP Duminy came into bat next.
Duminy hit a maximum off Chawla while AB got a boundary away as well as South Africa took their score to 81/3 in 10 overs at the halfway stage. Pawan Negi was greeted with a boundary by JP Duminy. Chawla then got his man as he got rid of Duminy for 16 off 12 balls. Chawla bowled it short outside off-stump, Duminy backed away looking to cut and got a faint edge to the keeper Uthappa who took a sharp catch. Duminy’s innings consisted of a boundary and a six. Wayne Parnell came out to bat next.
Soon, South Africa brought up their 100 in 12.1 overs as AB hit Negi for a boundary. Parnell joined the party as he hit Negi for the maximum as the Proteas were getting the big overs in. AB hit Yusuf for the maximum before going off strike. Yusuf got rid of Parnell for 11 off 6 balls with one six to his name. Flatter delivery angling at the stumps, Parnell backed away and made room for the cut and failed to get any bat to it and missed it. The ball hits the middle stump. JJ Smuts came out to bat next.
Smuts got off the mark straightaway with a boundary. Negi bowled a tight over as South Africa were 130/5 in 15 overs. Smuts then hit Chawla for a boundary and triple to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Negi bowled another decent over, before Smuts banged a six and a boundary off Abhimanyu Mithun. AB got into the act and hit a maximum off Vinay Kumar before hitting a maximum off a no ball to get to his fifty in 28 balls. AB continued and hit Vinay’s last two balls for a boundary and a six as 25 runs came off the 19th over. South Africa were suddenly at 189/5 in 19 overs.
Abhimanyu Mithun got rid of JJ Smuts in the first ball of the 20th over. The juicy full toss outside off, Smuts threw his hands at it and slices it uppishly straight towards point where Chawla took a good sharp catch. Smuts fell for 30 off 17 balls with 3 fours and a six to his name. Morne van Wyk came to the crease and got off the mark with a boundary. He hit the 4th and 5th ball for a boundary as the 200 came up for South Africa. The last ball was hit for the maximum as Morne finished with a flourish scoring 18* off 5 balls as South Africa ended with 208/6 in 20 overs. 9 extras given by the Indian team.
Piyush Chawla was the pick of the bowlers for India with figures of 2/31 in 4 overs. Yusuf Pathan chipped in with 2/26 in 3 overs. Abhimanyu Mithun got a wicket but his 4 overs went for 53 runs and Vinay Kumar’s 3 overs went for 42 runs. This meant India Champions had a daunting 209 to chase and win this game.
Aaron Phangiso’s 3-wicket haul dismantles India
Impact Player Shikhar Dhawan and Robin Uthappa opened the batting for India Champions. Lots of extras via fours in the opening two overs as runs from the bat came in 1s and 2s. But Hardus Viljoen provided the breakthrough for South Africa removing Impact Player Shikhar Dhawan. Viljoen nailed the yorker angling at the stumps, Dhawan had no clue about it and misses the ball. He failed to get his bat down in time and the ball crashed into the middle stump. Dhawan scored 1 off 4 balls as Suresh Raina came to bat at 3.
Raina got off the mark with a boundary with a vintage boundary through covers. Raina hit Olivier for a boundary as well as he was looking to get into the groove. Wayne Parnell ended Uthappa’s miserable stay in the middle as he went for 2 off 13 balls. The ball was banged in short around middle stump, Uthappa was cramped for room as he looked to pull and hits it off the sticker of his bat. The ball goes towards the midwicket region where short midwicket fielder tracked back and took it safely. Ambati Rayudu came in next and did not last long.
Parnell bowled a fuller length outside off, Rayudu threw his hands at it and played away from the body and got a thickish outside edge which crashed back onto the stumps as Rayudu fell for a silver duck. Stuart Binny came in next to join Raina. Raina hit Olivier for a boundary before the bowler came back to get his man. Back of the length delivery around middle, Raina backed away and looked to work it away fine. He got a thick inside edge which ricochets back into the stumps. Raina departed for 16 off 11 balls laced with 3 boundaries. Yusuf Pathan came out to bat next.
Yusuf got off the mark with a streaky boundary as India at the end of the powerplay were in trouble at 33/4 in 6 overs. Stuart Binny hit a couple of boundaries off Viljoen to give the innings some momentum. But Imran Tahir’s introduction brought a wicket for South Africa as AB and Erwee pulled off a stunner in the boundary line. Tahir tossed it up and bowled a googly around off, Yusuf hits it hard and lofts it towards long-on. AB ran to his right and took the catch diving to his right and parried the ball back into the fielder before touching the ropes. Sarel Erwee ran to his left dived forward and completed the catch. OUT was the verdict. There was a brief pause in play due to rain.
Irfan replaced his brother Yusuf to the middle. Irfan got a boundary off Imran Tahir. Aaron Phangiso was greeted by a boundary by Irfan Pathan. Phangiso then had his man as he dismissed Irfan Pathan for 10 off 9 balls. Fuller length angling at the stumps, Irfan got down on the knees and looked to sweep it across missed and got struck on the front pad. The umpire raised the finger in a flash. Piyush Chawla came into bat next at 8. Stuart Binny hit a maximum off Imran Tahir in the 10th over.
At the halfway stage, India were struggling at 66/6 in 10 overs needing another 143 runs off 60 balls with only 4 wickets in hand. Phangiso gave 4 byes away as extras kept soaring. Binny tried to keep the fight going as he hit Tahir for a boundary again. Phangiso kept things tight from one end as the required rate kept on climbing. Phangiso eventually had his man as he got rid of Piyush Chawla for 9 off 13 balls. Fuller length outside off, Chawla danced down the track and threw the kitchen sink and got no timing whatsoever. Thick edge and Olivier at short third man grabbed a comfortable catch as the 7th one fell for India. Pawan Negi came in next.
Phangiso had two in the over as Negi fell for a silver duck. Fuller length outside off, Negi looked to cut and a thick edge took it to short third man who made no mistake as the 8th wicket fell for India in the 15th over and the end was near. Vinay Kumar came out to bat next and at the end of 15 overs, India were tottering at 93/8. Vinay Kumar hit a boundary of Olivier as India finally crawled to 100 in 15.5 overs.
Vinay was having fun as he flicked away through deep midwicket off Viljoen for a boundary. JJ Smuts bowled a tight 18th over giving away 3 runs. Imran Tahir came in and got rid of Vinay Kumar for 13 off 12 balls with 2 boundaries to his name. Full and wide of off-stump, Vinay was looking to cut and got a thick outside edge to the keeper. India were 9 down for 111 in 18.2 overs when Abhimanyu Mithun came out to bat. But then there was a floodlight failure as smoke was detected coming out of it. Play was immediately called off with South Africa winning by 88 runs under DLS method. 18 extras given by South Africa in the 111/9 scored by India in 18.2 overs.
Aaron Phangiso was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa Champions with figures of 3/17 in 4 overs. He was ably supported by Imran Tahir the Impact Player as he finished with 2/24 in 3.2 overs. Wayne Parnell had unbelievable figures of 2 overs 2/0 including 2 maidens. Hardus Viljoen finished with figures of 1/25 in 4 overs. Duanne Olivier had figures of 1/28 in 4 overs. JJ Smuts bowled an over for 3 runs. So, South Africa won the match and for his exceptional display as captain and player/fielder, AB de Villiers was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead.
More action continues in WCL 2025 as Australia takes on West Indies Champions in the next game. So, loads of action coming your way as this tournament is also entering the business end of the tournament. It’s going to be exciting in the tournament soon.
Also Read:Â WCL 2025: South Africa Clinch Bowl Out After Thrilling Tie Against West Indies