 India take on South Africa in the Cricket World Cup game of March
12 at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. This will be one of the more looked
forward to game in the competition as the sides will look to ensure that they
win this game, and go into the next round with much more confidence than otherwise.
Let's look at what the points table tells us. India is currently at the top
of the table with seven points from four games but that is mostly because they
have won against Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands. The game against the English
side was tied after India had scored 338 in the first innings.
Click for Live Score Card of India Vs South Africa
South Africa, on the other hand, have had an interesting tournament so far.
They won against West Indies easily and then brushed the Dutch side aside. However,
this was followed by a collapse that could best be associated with South Africa
themselves. Chasing 172 for a win, the side fell short of the target and that
meant that they now have four points from three games. If the Proteas were to
lose this game, they would be left with four from four and games against Bangladesh
and Ireland in hand - two really stinging opposition.
However, the game has all the makings of going down to the wire. For one, the
two teams had met in India in 2010 and India had won that series 2-1. The series
was famously known for the Sachin Tendulkar double century in ODIs. Then
again, there was a series in South Africa where the South Africans won 3-2 -
again, the series going down to the wire. This will mean that the South African
side will need to do something special to overcome the Indians, who would have
had a hold over them.
India will need both, their batting and bowling to fire consistently. In the
first two games, their batting did very well but the bowling struggled to make
a move. Then, in the next couple of games, the Indians bowled well enough but
batting struggled to achieve totals against the minnows. Clearly, they will
need to bring out their A game against a side like South Africa.
South Africa will be happy to play at Nagpur after struggling at Chennai. With
the pitch expected to play true and the batting strong, the Indian bowlers will
need to be wary of the opposition. Nothing to choose from between the two sides.
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