India captain Rohit Sharma was a very happy person as the Men in Blue registered their 8th consecutive win in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023. This time the victims were South Africa, who were routed in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on November 5, 2023.
Rohit Sharma started well by winning the toss and gave India the perfect start after choosing to bat. He made 40 runs with 6 fours and 2 sixes in no time. After him, Virat Kohli (101*), Shreyas Iyer (77), and Ravindra Jadeja (29*) took India to a over par score of 326/5 in 50 overs.
Kohli completed his 49th ODI century and equaled Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most tons in ODIs and became the third Indian to hit a century on his birthday as well.
In response, Ravindra Jadeja picked 5/33 as South Africa was bowled out for 83 runs and lost by a huge margin of 243 runs.
After the match, Rohit Sharma was all praises for all the key performers who have helped India win.
“If you look at how we have played in the last three games, we have adapted better. We were put under pressure against England. But we got a decent score and then the seamers did the job. We lost a wicket in the first over. Then got runs and then the seamers did well. We needed Kohli to go out there and play the situation. We then knew we had to keep it in the right areas and let the pitch do the rest. [on Shreyas Iyer] Even if the faith hadn't been repaid, I would have still stuck to them. We need to keep the trust. It can't be done every day. For Shami to come back the way he has, shows the mindset. The last two games have shown what Iyer is capable of.
Gill and myself have been batting together for a majority of time now. We let our instincts take over. We don't preplan anyttheing. We just the assess and play accordingly. Jadeja has been very good for us. Playing in every format over the years. Today was a classical case as to what Jadeja is for us. Came out at the death and scored vital runs. Then picked up wickets. He knows his role and knows what the expectations from him. Not to get too ahead of ourselves has been the talk in the dressing room. Couple of big games coming up. We don't want to change anything,” Rohit Sharma told Star Sports.
With this win, India have been assured on the top spot in the points table with 16 points to their name. India will now have a break of 6 days, before facing the Netherlands in Bengaluru in their final league stage game on November 12.
