NEW DELHI, India, CMC – West Indies were floored by a combination of Imran Tahir’s clever leg-spin, and A.B. de Villiers’ 10th One-day International hundred that condemned them to a seven-wicket defeat in their World Cup opener yesterday.
Darren Bravo led the way in the batting with 73, but Tahir snared four wickets for 41 runs from 10 overs, as West Indies were dismissed for 222 in 47.3 overs, after they were sent in to bat in their Group-B match at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.
The Caribbean side then claimed opener Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis cheaply before de Villiers smote eight fours and two sixes in an undefeated 107 from 105 balls, and shared in two significant alliances to usher the Proteas over the finish line with 43 balls to spare.
“I think we had an opportunity, where we could have posted much more runs,” said West Indies captain Darren Sammy.
“It so happened that all of the batsmen in our side that got starts failed to carry-on like [de Villiers] for South Africa.”
He added: “Every time it appeared we were getting back into the game, we lost wickets in clusters, so we really have to correct this.
“There were still a few positives in the batting. Darren Bravo batted quite well for us, and so we will go back and look at the drawing board, and come better against the Netherlands.”
To add injury to insult, West Indies were hamstrung by the loss of vice-captain and leading all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, when he injured himself while bowling, and could only complete 2.1 of his allotment of 10 overs.
“He is a wicket-taker for us, and losing him was not a good sight for us,” said Sammy.
“Right now, we do not know the extent of the injury, but he will have a scan [today], and hopefully he will be okay to take part for the remainder of the competition.”
Kemar Roach gave West Indies a bright start in their defence of the modest total, when Amla got an inside edge, and was caught behind brilliantly left-handed down the leg side by wicketkeeper Devon Thomas in the fourth over.
Sulieman Benn gave West Indies false hope, when Jacques Kallis edged a loose drive, and was caught at slip for four next over to leave South Africa 20 for two.
West Indies did not get another chance to celebrate a wicket until the 29th over, when Kieron Pollard bowled South Africa captain Graeme Smith for 45, following a second wicket stand of 119 with de Villiers.
By then, West Indies’ fate was all but sealed, and not even a brief stoppage for rain slowed the Proteas down.
A full delivery outside off-stump from Benn was square-driven by de Villiers for a single to take the Proteas wicketkeeper/batsman to his milestone from 97 balls, and a piece of World Cup history, scorer of the fastest hundred by a South African in the competition.
He added 84 unbroken for the fourth wicket with Duminy, whose drive to deep extra cover for a single off Devon Smith, bowling his occasional off-spin, formalised the result, and left him not out on 42.
Earlier, Darren Bravo struck eight fours and one six from 82 balls to give West Indies early momentum. His elder brother Dwayne supported with 40, Smith made 36, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul gathered 31.
The demolition of the West Indies batting was completed by Dale Steyn with three for 24 from 7.3 overs, and off-spinner Johan Botha with two for 48 from nine overs.
West Indies were setback almost immediately, when Chris Gayle drove loosely at a flighted delivery from Botha, and was caught at slip for two from the third delivery of the match.
But the younger Bravo joined Smith, and gave West Indies a solid base with a stand of 111 from 136 balls for the second wicket.
Bravo got into his stride with a couple of boundaries from Kallis’ first over, and batted with crisp assurance to reach his 50 from 55 balls, when he drove Tahir through cover for a deuce.
He then celebrated the landmark with a one-handed six over long-on off the same bowler, but his dismissal in the 24th over, lbw playing across to Botha, sparked a mini collapse.
Smith gave a return catch to Tahir, who also trapped Ramnaresh Sarwan lbw for two to leave West Indies 120 for four in the 27th over.
The elder Bravo joined Chanderpaul, and they got West Indies moving again with a stand of 58 for the fifth wicket.
Bravo put the three South Africa frontline spinners under pressure, hitting each for a six, all over the leg-side, before he was run out in a horrendous mix-up with Chanderpaul in 38th over.
Left-hander Chanderpaul continued to inch West Indies along, but when he was caught at long-off in the 43rd over off Tahir, this triggered another collapse that saw the Caribbean side lose their last five wickets for 19 runs in the space of 32 deliveries.
West Indies second match takes place next Monday at this same venue against the ICC Associate side Netherlands, the same team South Africa face three days later at the PCA Stadium in Chandigarh in their next match.
The World Cup continues today, when Trans-Tasman neighbours Australia and New Zealand renew their rivalry at the VCA Stadium in the Indian city of Nagpur, and co-hosts Bangladesh meet ICC Associate side Ireland at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka.
Scoreboard
West Indies (maximum 50 overs)
C. Gayle c Kallis b Botha 2
D. Smith c and b Imran Tahir 36
D.M. Bravo lbw b Botha 73
R. Sarwan lbw b Imran Tahir 2
S. Chanderpaul c Peterson b Imran Tahir 31
D.J. Bravo run out (Morkel/+de Villiers ) 40
+D. Thomas c Duminy b Imran Tahir 15
K. Pollard lbw b Steyn 0
*D. Sammy lbw b Steyn 0
S. Benn c Morkel b Steyn 6
K. Roach not out 2
Extras (b1, lb3, w11) 15
Total (all out, 47.3 overs) 222
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-113, 3-117, 4-120, 5-178, 6-209, 7-213, 8-213, 9-213
Bowling: Botha 9-0-48-2 (w7); Steyn 7.3-1-24-3 (w2); Morkel 8-0-35-0 (w2); Kallis 3-0-21-0; Imran Tahir 10-1-41-4; Peterson 10-0-49-0
South Africa (target: 223 off 50 overs)
H. Amla c Thomas b Roach 14
*G. Smith b Pollard 45
J. Kallis c *Sammy b Benn 4
+A. de Villiers not out 107
J. Duminy not out 42
Extras (lb10, nb1) 11
Total (3 wkts, 42.5 overs) 223
F. du Plessis, J. Botha, R. Peterson, M. Morkel, D. Steyn, Imran Tahir did not bat
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-20, 3-139
Bowling: Benn 10-0-51-1; Roach 8-0-42-1; D.J. Bravo 2.1-0-12-0; *Sammy 8-0-40-0; Pollard 7.5-0-37-1 (nb1); Gayle 6-0-26-0; Smith 0.5-0-5-0
Result: South Africa won by seven wickets (43 balls remaining)
Points: South Africa 2, West Indies 0
Toss: South Africa
Man-of-the-Match: A. de Villiers (South Africa)
Umpires: S. Taufel (Australia), A. Saheba (India)
