Dhawan hit 114 to help guide India to victory over South Africa in the first match of the ICC Champions Trophy. It was great start to the tournament as both teams played well in a high-scoring opening match. India made 331-7 after their 50 overs but it was too much for South Africa to chase as they ended up all out on 305.
South Africa won the toss and chose to field first on a good pitch in Cardiff. India started off very strongly as they raced to 53-0 after their opening powerplay. It only took them another five overs before Sharma and Dhawan completed their century partnership as India coasted to 100-0. The first wicket finally fell in the as Sharma (65), looking to score heavily, was caught in the field, leaving India 127-1. More Indian dominance saw Dhawan complete his century as they powered to 203-1. However, the wicket of Kohli (41) in the following over seemed to be a catalyst for further wickets to fall. Dhawan (114) was caught on the boundary after playing a sweep whilst Karthik (14) edged behind soon after as India were reduced to 240-4. India managed to put on a further 90 runs in the last 10 overs of their innings but three more wickets fell. Raina (9) and Dhoni (27) were both caught out whilst Ashwin (10) was run out by Mclaren. Jadeja played an important role as he finished on 47* as India ended up on 331-7 after 50 overs.
South Africa got off to a slow start as Ingram (6) only lasted five balls before being caught after a thick edge. It was soon 31-2 as Amla (22) edged behind at the end of the third over. Both Peterson and AB De Villiers provided some stability for South Africa as they both scored their half centuries to guide them to 137-2. This important partnership was broken after Dhoni ran out Peterson (68). South Africa then lost three wickets in rapid succession as Duminy (14) was out lbw, De Villiers (70) was caught in the field and Miller (0) was run out before even facing a ball to leave them 187-6. It was then a tough task to get back in the game and got even harder as Du Plessis (30) edged into the slips. The game was pretty much settled after two quick wickets saw Kleinveldt (4) edge behind and Tsotsobe (3) bowled by Kumar, leaving South Africa on 257-9. Mclaren did his best to get South Africa back in the game with an unbeaten fifty but it was not enough as India won the match after Jadeja bowled Morkel (8) with the last ball of the match to leave the Proteas 305 all out which meant that India won by 26 runs.
Performance of the Day: Shikhar Dhawan for hitting 114 off 94 balls. This proved to be a pivotal innings for India in such a closely contested game.
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