Champions Trophy: Dhawan, Jadeja lead India to easy win

Click here for the Detailed Scorecard It started off as a typically Welsh day in Cardiff. Simply put, it was cold and overcast. South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl. Dale Steyn was missing but South Africa still had the bowlers to take advantage of the conditions. On the other hand, India had opted for a makeshift opening pair. Murli Vijay was dropped and Rohit Sharma was promoted up the order. Dinesh Karthik’s two centuries in the warm-up matches saw him earn a place in the middle order. The advantage in the minds of almost everyone watching was in South Africa’s favour. But then India surprised – to beat South Africa by 26 runs in the first match of the Champions Trophy. They first surprised with their calm – the South African bowlers were short, some would say too short – and the Indian batsmen, despite getting hit on the helmet twice (Shikar Dhawan and Virat Kohli) were  mostly in control. [caption id=“attachment_849405” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Jadeja produced a brilliant allround display. AP[/caption] The second surprise through was Rohit Sharma. We have all spoken about his talent or his class at some point or the other. We have also spoken about his inconsistencies. But today, he seemed to have conquered his fears. The first four was a beautifully timed cover drive. After that there was no looking back. To the casual observer, it might have seemed as if Rohit was doing all the batting but Dhawan wasn’t doing too badly for himself either. In fact, the manner in which he set himself for the innings was superb. Slowly to begin with and then with some cracking shots on all sides of the wicket. The 127-run partnership for the first wicket between Dhawan (114) and Rohit (65) set the tone for the innings. In fact, Dhawan became only the third Indian after K Srikkanth and MS Dhoni to score both his maiden Test and ODI 100s in less than 100 balls. Virat Kohli chipped in with 31 off 41 balls but then came a bit of a collapse. From 210 for 1 to 260 for 5 – the Indian innings lost momentum and it was only some belligerent hitting by Ravindra Jadeja (47 off 29 balls) that helped India get to 331 for seven. At one point, India looked good for plenty more but South Africa pulled it back through smart bowling by Ryan McLaren (3/70) and Lonwabo Tsotobe (2/83). The pacers who were supposed to make an impact went for plenty of runs and Morne Morkel’s injury, which forced him off the field, didn’t help their cause either. In an interview on TV during the break, Rohit Sharma said the conditions reminded him of home. And that was proved once again as the Indian pacemen went for runs and took wickets but it was the spinners piled on the pressure. South Africa lost Colin Ingram and Hashim Amla early (2-31) but then Robin Peterson and De Villiers played with confidence to bring SA back into the match. Peterson made his maiden ODI 50, ten years after making his debut while AB also didn’t have much trouble. The spinners controlled things but it SA seemed like their would challenge India’s total. Then India got the breakthrough – and Jadeja was the one who came to their rescue. Just when things were starting to get tense, he effected a brilliant stop and then most importantly chose the right end to throw at. Peterson flicked the ball to the leg-side and set off only to see Jadeja field it brilliantly. That set things into motion. From 2-155 to 6-188, the wickets just kept falling and knocked the fight out of South Africa. The old chokers tag was back to haunt them in social media but this was just the first match of the tournament. Ryan McLaren remained unbeaten with 71 off 61 balls – but it came too late and South Africa lost too many wicket to mount a fierce challenge. India next take on West Indies at the Oval, London. That match is on June 11.