SOUTHAMPTON: It was after the 32nd over of the South African innings. The second drinks break had just been called. The Indian players were getting together. Instead of walking normally like others, KL Rahul did a small jig, somewhat akin to Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk steps. Apart from summing up the mood in the team, it also showed which way the match was headed.
At 124 for five at that stage, the South African innings was in disarray and the total they eventually got was looking a far cry.
The wrist spinners had accounted for three of those wickets and the batsmen were struggling to read Yuzvendra Chahal. Kuldeep Yadav was also planting doubts in their minds. Virat Kohli's team was well and truly on top.
If that reminded one of South Africa’s struggles against the wrong ’un duo in the Rainbow Nation early last year, that’s where the similarity ended.
Here in Southampton on Wednesday, Faf du Plessis and his boys were undone primarily by the pace pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the first 10 overs. They set the tone, which was followed up by the rest. And forced on the back foot early on, the Proteas never really found their feet except for the last few overs.
It was surprising to see Du Plessis electing to bat in slightly overcast conditions, considering that his team’s best chance lay in letting his fast bowlers loose against India’s top three when there was expected to be something in the pitch.
Perhaps losing two matches batting second prompted this decision. So it was their batsmen against two of the most effective new-ball bowlers in recent times.
It was a cat and mouse game between bat and ball in the first 10 overs. Bhuvneshwar concentrated mostly on the delivery that swings away from the right-hander. Bumrah was doing the opposite by bowling what comes naturally to him.
This was particularly effective against the left-handed Quinton de Kock, who was never sure which one to play and which one to leave.
There were 34 runs scored in this period, with just four fours. Other than two edges caught at the slips, there were many more that didn’t carry or landed wide. There was plenty of playing and missing as well and these two more than justified the skipper’s decision to deploy three slips when they were bowling.
Openers gone, not many on the board and morale down, the South Africans appeared a broken bunch after the first power play.
So when the spinners were introduced and Hardik Pandya came on with his less incisive medium fast variety, the batsmen could not afford to think of getting after them. They had already been forced into damage control mode.
The scoreboard said it was time to accelerate, but the situation didn’t permit that. The wickets that the spinners took had a lot to do with the early pressure applied on the batsmen by Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar.
In a way, it sets the template for India for the rest of the tournament. Two fast bowlers clocking consistently over 140kmph with control over movement is a difficult proposition for batsmen in most conditions.
If the elements favour a bit and the pitch offers some bounce like it did at Ageas Bowl, this new-ball attack can dent the confidence of the opposition early on and break their back.
Barring Rohit Sharma’s responsible century, India’s performance with the bat was not as convincing, if one takes into account the run rates recorded in England in recent times.
But then, in a team with fast bowlers and spinners capable of taking wickets at every stage of an innings, the batters can breathe a bit easy at times. It seems as if this World Cup will see more of this. Is it ideal? Let time tell.