World Cup: South Africa rout West Indies by 7 wickets

AB de Villiers smashed

(TOI)
NEW DELHI. AB de Villiers smashed an unbeaten century and debutant Imran Tahir scalped four wickets as South Africa launched their World Cup campaign with a comfortable seven-wicket win over West Indies in a Group-B league match on Thursday.
The South Africans first bowled out the Caribbeans for 222 and then relied on de Villiers' unbeaten 107, his 10th ODI ton, to rattle up the runs with 43 balls to spare at the Ferozeshah Kotla. The Proteas scored 223/3 to garner two points.
The 31-year-old Pakistan-born Tahir also made a memorable World Cup debut to claim four key wickets and return with impressive figures of 10-1-41-4 while paceman Dale Steyn was the other successful bowler with 3/24.
Darren Bravo (73) was the top scorer for the West Indians who never really got to take control of the innings after being put in to bat by South African skipper Graeme Smith.
The Caribbeans failed to recover from the early jolt of losing their opener Chris Gayle in the very first over and although Devon Smith (36), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (31) and Dwayne Bravo (40) got the starts, they could not translate them into a big knocks.
After Tahir took the bowling honours, de Villiers took centrestage with a superb display of strokeplay on what appeared to be a good track at the Ferozeshah Kotla, hosting its first match since December 2009 after the India-Sri Lanka ODI was abandoned because of a "dangerous" pitch.
The South African innings began on a disastrous note as they lost opener Hashim Amla (14) and veteran Jacques Kallis (4) early to be reduced to a precarious 20/2 within five overs.  Paceman Kemar Roach drew first blood for the West Indians by dismissing Amla who edged the ball to wicket keeper Devon Thomas. The South Africans asked for a referral and the television umpire upheld the decision.
But the Proteas suffered a huge jolt when Kallis, who has been a vital cog in their batting, was snapped up by Sulieman Benn who began the bowling operations for his team.
It was a gem of a ball from Benn which accounted for Kallis' dismissal as the right-hander went for cover drive but only succeeded in edging the spinning delivery to Darren Sammy at the lone slip.
The dashing AB de Villiers, who joined his captain Graeme Smith after Kallis' dismissal, launched a counter-attack to unsettle the Caribbeans and the strategy paid dividends to some extent as the duo brought up the 50-run partnership in just 55 balls.
Both Smith and de Villiers played sensibly and soon added 100 runs for the third wicket without taking too many risks. While the captain played the anchor's role, de Villiers went for the runs at the other end. The third wicket partnership yielded 119 runs before Pollard provided the breakthrough by getting rid of Smith. Smith's 45 came off 78 balls and contained two boundaries.
After a brief rain interruption, de Villiers completed his century with a single off Pollard while J P Duminy also scored at a brisk pace at the other end.
Earlier, the Caribbeans could never recover from the early jolt of losing Gayle in the very first over. South Africa opened the bowling with spinner Johan Botha and the move paid dividends straightaway as he accounted for dangerous Gayle in the very third ball of the innings.
Gayle tried to play on the leg side but only succeeded in edging the ball to Kallis at the slip.
Smith and Bravo steadied the innings after the early jolt by playing cautiously but were quick to dispatch the loose deliveries to the boundary. While Bravo was the more aggressive of the two batsmen, unleashing a flurry of shots on both sides of the wicket, Smith was quite content in playing second fiddle and giving strike to his partner.
The duo brought up the 100-run partnership for the second wicket in 19.4 over and put the Caribbean innings back on track as the South Africans tried to break the stand.
Just when West Indies seemed to be cruising along, the Proteas struck three vital blows to unsettle them again with leg spinner Tahir doing the damage on two occasions.
Devon smith (36), Bravo (73) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (2) were the three batsmen who returned to the pavilion in quick succession as West Indies suddenly slumped to 120/4.
It was Botha who triggered the collapse by getting rid of Bravo who was looking quite comfortable at the middle.
Bravo looked to flick a well tossed up delivery but missed the line and was trapped leg before. He went for the referral but the television umpire also ruled him out.
Smith was the next to depart as he offered a simple return catch to Tahir who made no mistake while Sarwan was trapped leg before to the same bowler a few minutes later.
It was then left to Shivanarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo to do the repair work. Bravo played his natural game and clobbered three huge sixes early in his knock.
The pair put on 58 runs for the fifth wicket before Bravo was run out after Chanderpaul made the mistake of calling him for a non-existent run. Bravo's quickfire 40 came off 37 balls and contained one boundary and three sixes.
Chanderpaul could not sustain the tempo as he fell victim to Tahir with Peterson taking a well-judged catch at the long on region.  The hard-hitting Kieron Pollard, who joined the action after Chanderpaul's dismissal, did not trouble the scorer at all as he perished in the very first ball he faced.
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score card 

West Indies innings (50 overs maximum)		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	CH Gayle	c Kallis b Botha	2	3	3	0	0	66.66
	0.3 83.4 kph, the Botha move has worked wonders, dangerman Gayle is gone, a length delivery pitching outside off, turns away from Gayle who looks to play on the leg side, but only manages to edge it to first slip, where Kallis takes a low catch, what a start for South Africa, Smith and Co are jubilant as Shakira's football anthem "Waka waka" blares round the ground 2/1
	DS Smith	c & b Imran Tahir	36	103	57	3	0	63.15
	24.4 80.6 kph, Mystery man strikes. No mystery in that ball, just old-fashioned flight and guile. Smith walked into the trap with his eyes closed. He would have been feeling a little uneasy ever since Bravo left, they were working well as a pair. Tahir looped this invitingly outside off, Smith reached out, almost got to the pitch but not quite. He ended up chipping it right back to Tahir, who hurls it up in the air after pouching it. More interestingly, he kisses the SA badge. SA are coming back into this. 117/3
	DM Bravo	lbw b Botha	73	96	82	8	1	89.02
	23.1 86.1 kph, Darren Bravo reviews an lbw appeal. Botha tossed this one up on off stump, and it seemed to hold its line. Not much turn. Bravo looked to flick and missed. The ball was thudding into middle and leg. He's played all around a straight one. He knew it was a poor shot the moment he played it. He kicked the turf in disgust before consulting with Smith, and going for the referral reluctantly. No luck there. Huge wicket for SA. Lara's clone has not scored a 100 against them and SA will breathe easy. 113/2
	RR Sarwan	lbw b Imran Tahir	2	15	10	0	0	20.00
	26.1 89.6 kph, Sarwan reviews an lbw now, against Tahir. What's happening here! My initial gut feel was not out. Here's what happened - Tahir tossed this up and the replay says it landed on leg stump. It then turned a touch, enough to ensure it was going to hit the stumps. Sarwan looked to play with a straight bat, but just missed it. Was there an inside edge? It was going to hit the top of middle, so the decision is upheld. Sarwan is gone and WI are out of reviews. He was really well forward, and if Taufel had said not out, I doubt if SA would have referred it. Tahir was ecstactic, ran around like a man possessed when it was given first up. Again - was there an edge? The replays are inconclusive. We need HotSpot for it. We don't have it. 120/4
	S Chanderpaul	c Peterson b Imran Tahir	31	73	51	1	1	60.78
	42.2 spoke too soon, that's the end of Chanderpaul, he was looking to play another lofted inside-out hit, hoping to clear the extra cover fielder, instead he can only find long-off 209/6
	DJ Bravo	run out (Morkel/†de Villiers)	40	46	37	1	3	108.10
	37.5 Peterson to Chanderpaul, oh my goodness, West Indies can't afford this, Bravo is run-out after an appalling call for a single from Chanderpaul, who had crunched a reverse-sweep to short third man, it went straight to Morne Morkel, no chance of a single there, but Chanderpaul had set off, Bravo responds late, though there was no way he was going to make his ground, the throw is on top of the stumps, AB takes off the bails with Bravo several yards out 178/5
	DC Thomas†	c Duminy b Imran Tahir	15	29	26	1	0	57.69
	44.6 and a superb over gets even better, Thomas losses his head and his wicket, looks to scythe a length ball over the off side, Duminy runs back from extra cover to pouch the catch that gives Tahir his fourth wicket, a debut to remember for Tahir, and some really poor cricket from West Indies 213/8
	KA Pollard	lbw b Steyn	0	6	1	0	0	0.00
	43.3 Humongous appeal for lbw against Pollard first ball, umpire says not out, and signals leg byes, referral it is, pitching on outside off and hitting on off and middle, Hawk-Eye suggest that was going on to hit middle, height is not a problem either, replays take a while to check whether there was any bat on it, there wasn't, Pollard gone for a golden duck, Smith will be very pleased with the way his bowling changes have worked today 213/7
	DJG Sammy*	lbw b Steyn	0	7	4	0	0	0.00
	45.1 Steyn gets another, that's one more duck, Sammy and Pollard were supposed to provide the late impetus but both have gone without scoring, Steyn fires in a quick and short ball, it doesn't rise too much, not sure what Sammy was trying, he is struck in front of middle, on the knee roll, and he's on his way, the hitting of Darren Bravo seems a long time ago, West Indies fighting to bat out the 50 overs 213/9
	SJ Benn	c Morkel b Steyn	6	14	8	1	0	75.00
	47.3 and that's curtains for the West Indies innings, they finish on double Nelson, Benn was looking to sky that one over extra cover, gets far too much elevation and Morkel runs in to take a sharp catch, he's one of the best outfielders in the game though he's a fast bowler 222/10
	KAJ Roach	not out	2	12	6	0	0	33.33
	Extras	(b 1, lb 3, w 11)	15
	Total	(all out; 47.3 overs; 205 mins)	222	(4.67 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-2 (Gayle, 0.3 ov), 2-113 (DM Bravo, 23.1 ov), 3-117 (Smith, 24.4 ov), 4-120 (Sarwan, 26.1 ov), 5-178 (DJ Bravo, 37.5 ov), 6-209 (Chanderpaul, 42.2 ov), 7-213 (Pollard, 43.3 ov), 8-213 (Thomas, 44.6 ov), 9-213 (Sammy, 45.1 ov), 10-222 (Benn, 47.3 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	J Botha	9	0	48	2	5.33	(3w)
	0.3 to Gayle, 83.4 kph, the Botha move has worked wonders, dangerman Gayle is gone, a length delivery pitching outside off, turns away from Gayle who looks to play on the leg side, but only manages to edge it to first slip, where Kallis takes a low catch, what a start for South Africa, Smith and Co are jubilant as Shakira's football anthem "Waka waka" blares round the ground 2/1 23.1 to DM Bravo, 86.1 kph, Darren Bravo reviews an lbw appeal. Botha tossed this one up on off stump, and it seemed to hold its line. Not much turn. Bravo looked to flick and missed. The ball was thudding into middle and leg. He's played all around a straight one. He knew it was a poor shot the moment he played it. He kicked the turf in disgust before consulting with Smith, and going for the referral reluctantly. No luck there. Huge wicket for SA. Lara's clone has not scored a 100 against them and SA will breathe easy. 113/2
	DW Steyn	7.3	1	24	3	3.20	(2w)
	43.3 to Pollard, Humongous appeal for lbw against Pollard first ball, umpire says not out, and signals leg byes, referral it is, pitching on outside off and hitting on off and middle, Hawk-Eye suggest that was going on to hit middle, height is not a problem either, replays take a while to check whether there was any bat on it, there wasn't, Pollard gone for a golden duck, Smith will be very pleased with the way his bowling changes have worked today 213/7 45.1 to Sammy, Steyn gets another, that's one more duck, Sammy and Pollard were supposed to provide the late impetus but both have gone without scoring, Steyn fires in a quick and short ball, it doesn't rise too much, not sure what Sammy was trying, he is struck in front of middle, on the knee roll, and he's on his way, the hitting of Darren Bravo seems a long time ago, West Indies fighting to bat out the 50 overs 213/9 47.3 to Benn, and that's curtains for the West Indies innings, they finish on double Nelson, Benn was looking to sky that one over extra cover, gets far too much elevation and Morkel runs in to take a sharp catch, he's one of the best outfielders in the game though he's a fast bowler 222/10
	M Morkel	8	0	35	0	4.37	(2w)
	JH Kallis	3	0	21	0	7.00
	Imran Tahir	10	1	41	4	4.10
	24.4 to Smith, 80.6 kph, Mystery man strikes. No mystery in that ball, just old-fashioned flight and guile. Smith walked into the trap with his eyes closed. He would have been feeling a little uneasy ever since Bravo left, they were working well as a pair. Tahir looped this invitingly outside off, Smith reached out, almost got to the pitch but not quite. He ended up chipping it right back to Tahir, who hurls it up in the air after pouching it. More interestingly, he kisses the SA badge. SA are coming back into this. 117/3 26.1 to Sarwan, 89.6 kph, Sarwan reviews an lbw now, against Tahir. What's happening here! My initial gut feel was not out. Here's what happened - Tahir tossed this up and the replay says it landed on leg stump. It then turned a touch, enough to ensure it was going to hit the stumps. Sarwan looked to play with a straight bat, but just missed it. Was there an inside edge? It was going to hit the top of middle, so the decision is upheld. Sarwan is gone and WI are out of reviews. He was really well forward, and if Taufel had said not out, I doubt if SA would have referred it. Tahir was ecstactic, ran around like a man possessed when it was given first up. Again - was there an edge? The replays are inconclusive. We need HotSpot for it. We don't have it. 120/4 42.2 to Chanderpaul, spoke too soon, that's the end of Chanderpaul, he was looking to play another lofted inside-out hit, hoping to clear the extra cover fielder, instead he can only find long-off 209/6 44.6 to Thomas, and a superb over gets even better, Thomas losses his head and his wicket, looks to scythe a length ball over the off side, Duminy runs back from extra cover to pouch the catch that gives Tahir his fourth wicket, a debut to remember for Tahir, and some really poor cricket from West Indies 213/8
	RJ Peterson	10	0	49	0	4.90

	South Africa innings (target: 223 runs from 50 overs)		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	HM Amla	c †Thomas b Roach	14	14	15	2	0	93.33
	3.3 143.0 kph, Roach has got Amla in slightly controversial fashion. Several things happened there. First up, Roach delivered a snorter of an inducker, accentuated by the fact that he delivered it from wide of the crease. It was always coming in, and then landed on a length outside off before nipping in. Amla was cut in half as he looked to force from the crease, and ended up getting an inner edge that flew low down to the leg side. The keeper Devon Thomas who has been making a lot of noise, pulled a blinder, arresting his momentum and diving low to the left. The umpire asked Amla to wait, to check if Roach over-stepped. The replays suggested it was cut and go. If I were the third ump, I'd have probably said no-ball, but it was deemed legal. WI have struck 15/1
	GC Smith*	b Pollard	45	116	78	2	0	57.69
	28.3 110.9 kph, Pollard sets off on extravagant celebrations, Smith is bowled as he looks to swipe a delivery to the leg side, he plays well outside the line of that one and the ball crashes into off, the breakthrough West Indies desperately needed 139/3
	JH Kallis	c Sammy b Benn	4	5	7	0	0	57.14
	4.6 84.8 kph, Ladies and gentlemen - we have a game here. Kallis is gone. Lovely bit of bowling from Benn, lands this on a length around middle and leg, and tempts Kallis into the cover drive. Only, Kallis was around half a foot short of the length, and the ball spun like the Indian-made tops you get in Chandni Chowk. Kallis ended up getting an outside edge that flew quick to Sammy at the lone slip. Did it carry? Kallis did not wait for the replays to vindicate it - he just asked Sammy. How good is that to see? Great scenes. This game has come alive. 20/2
	AB de Villiers†	not out	107	149	105	8	2	101.90
	JP Duminy	not out	42	54	53	1	0	79.24
	Extras	(lb 10, nb 1)	11
	Total	(3 wickets; 42.5 overs; 171 mins)	223	(5.20 runs per over)

Did not bat F du Plessis, J Botha, RJ Peterson, M Morkel, DW Steyn, Imran Tahir

Fall of wickets1-15 (Amla, 3.3 ov), 2-20 (Kallis, 4.6 ov), 3-139 (Smith, 28.3 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	SJ Benn	10	0	51	1	5.10
	4.6 to Kallis, 84.8 kph, Ladies and gentlemen - we have a game here. Kallis is gone. Lovely bit of bowling from Benn, lands this on a length around middle and leg, and tempts Kallis into the cover drive. Only, Kallis was around half a foot short of the length, and the ball spun like the Indian-made tops you get in Chandni Chowk. Kallis ended up getting an outside edge that flew quick to Sammy at the lone slip. Did it carry? Kallis did not wait for the replays to vindicate it - he just asked Sammy. How good is that to see? Great scenes. This game has come alive. 20/2
	KAJ Roach	8	0	42	1	5.25
	3.3 to Amla, 143.0 kph, Roach has got Amla in slightly controversial fashion. Several things happened there. First up, Roach delivered a snorter of an inducker, accentuated by the fact that he delivered it from wide of the crease. It was always coming in, and then landed on a length outside off before nipping in. Amla was cut in half as he looked to force from the crease, and ended up getting an inner edge that flew low down to the leg side. The keeper Devon Thomas who has been making a lot of noise, pulled a blinder, arresting his momentum and diving low to the left. The umpire asked Amla to wait, to check if Roach over-stepped. The replays suggested it was cut and go. If I were the third ump, I'd have probably said no-ball, but it was deemed legal. WI have struck 15/1
	DJ Bravo	2.1	0	12	0	5.53
	DJG Sammy	8	0	40	0	5.00
	KA Pollard	7.5	0	37	1	4.72	(1nb)
	28.3 to Smith, 110.9 kph, Pollard sets off on extravagant celebrations, Smith is bowled as he looks to swipe a delivery to the leg side, he plays well outside the line of that one and the ball crashes into off, the breakthrough West Indies desperately needed 139/3
	CH Gayle	6	0	26	0	4.33
	DS Smith	0.5	0	5	0	6.00

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