CWC'19: Chahal strikes for India, restricts S Africa to 227/9

Indian team, playing their first match in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019, restricted South Africa to 227 for the loss of nine at the Rose Bowl stadium on Wednesday.

The men in blue who were invited to bowl first showcased the magnificent game of cricket. India's top spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was on full fire and derailed South Africa's batting order by getting four wickets in his spell.

The South African opener could not stand in front of the Indian pace attack as Jasprit Bumrah's terrific bowling did not give a chance to the Proteas openers to settle in and took early wickets of Hashim Amla (6) and Quinton de Kock (10).

Playing under pressure, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen tried to put much-needed runs, having a partnership of 54 runs for the third-wicket. But soon Indian spinners derailed the middle-order of the Proteas, taking four wickets. The pair of Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav showed excellent bowling and did not let South African batsmen put runs on the scoreboard.

Chahal dismissed du Plessis (38)and van der Dussen (22), while Jean-Paul Duminy (3) was sent to the pavilion by Kuldeep, leaving South Africa at 89/5 in 22.6 overs. The partnership between David Miller and Andile Phehlukwayo was in the build-up but Chahal got another breakthrough as the spinner sent Miller back to the pavilion for 31 and broke the 46-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Soon after master class stumping by MS Dhoni resulted in Phehlukwayo's wicket (34) off Chahal, marking the spinner's fourth wicket of the day. For South Africa, Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris took the responsibility for the eighth wicket. The duo put important runs for the team. This partnership was broken by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was looking for a wicket since the start of the game. Bhuvneshwar sent Morris (42) and Imran Tahir (0) back to the dressing room in the final over.

For South Africa, Morris was the highest run-getter with 42 runs and du Plessis contributed with 38 runs. India's Chahal was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets. Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah got two wickets each.