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South Africa made easy work of their World Cup opener against the West Indies, beating the former World Champions by 7 wickets at the Ferozshah Kotla in Delhi on Thursday. Imran Tahir made a dream debut for the Proteas, picking up 4 wickets and was ably support by Dale Steyn who chipped in with 3 of his own. The West Indies were bowled out for just 222 in their innings, and South Africa knocked off the runs in under 43 overs thanks to a fantastic century by AB de Villiers.

There were some interesting team selections announced at the toss today with South Africa going into the game with just the 2 frontline seamers in Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel and picking a three-pronged spin attack of Tahir, Botha and Peterson. West Indies too shocked the fans by choosing only two bowlers in a line-up that listed Kieron Pollard to bat ridiculously low at no.9. In fairness to them, they did pick all their available allrounders, but the absence of quality bowling options would undoubtedly be felt. Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to field as he did not want to expose his spinners to the evening Delhi dew.

Johan Botha provided the perfect start for the Proteas, picking up the wicket of Chris Gayle in the very first over of the innigs. It would have been a massive blow under usual circumstances, but Darren Bravo came in at no.3 and played an exceptionally mature innings of 73 to lend stability to the West Indian cause. Bravo and Devon Smith added 111 runs for the second wicket, scoring at just under 5 an over. Perhaps crucially they also bore the brunt of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel and built the perfect platform for their strong batting line-up to exploit.

Botha struck once again and provided the key break through, trapping Bravo leg before. Smith brought Tahir into the attack the very next over, and the leg-spinner responded by picking up Smith’s wicket for 36. Tahir then made it a triple blow as he removed the veteran Ramnaresh Sarwan for 2. The West Indies had slid from a comfortable 113 for 1 to 120 for 4 within the space of 3 overs!

Experienced campaigner Shivnariane Chanderpaul and the aggressive Dwayne Bravo provided some stability in the middle. Bravo hit 3 sixes, racing to 40 from just 37 deliveries and looked set to take West Indies to a competitive total before a mix up between the batsmen led to Bravo’s run out. Wicket keeper Devon Thomas was sent in ahead of Pollard, a surprising move in the 38th over, leaving one wondering what the big hitter was being saved for.

With Thomas struggling to land bat on ball, Chanderpaul (31) started hitting out, but picked out the fielder down at long off. Another collapse followed as the West Indies lost 5 wickets for just 13 runs with Steyn picking 3 of these including Pollard for a first ball duck.

The West Indian innings that had promised so much failed to deliver as they fell woefully shy of a decent score, getting bowled out in the 48th over for just 222.

South Africa lost two wickets up front in their chase with Hashim Amla (14) inside edging a Kemar Roach delivery which was brilliantly taken by rookie wicket keeper Thomas. Jacques Kallis then fell to another brilliant catch, captain Darren Sammy taking a tough one at slip off the bowling of left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn, who opened the bowling for the West Indies alongside Roach.

West Indies pushed to pick up another wicket but the Proteas survived the tough early period. AB de Villiers was in divine touch, striking the ball as if he had been born and bread on this Delhi track.

The Windies were struck a massive blow when Dwayne Bravo limped off the field at the start of his third over, twisting his ankle while trying to change direction while chasing a ball off his own bowling. One hopes that the injury is not a major one and he will be able to compete in the rest of the World Cup.

Smith and De Villiers added 119 for the 3^rd wicket before the skipper was bowled by an off-cutter by Pollard that came in and hit the stumps. JP Duminy joined De Villiers in the middle and also looked in good nick. There was a brief interruption with a short shower livening things up a bit, but the weather cleared up soon enough and De Villiers and Duminy quickly knocked off the runs required with 43 balls to spare. De Villiers remained unbeaten on 107 from just 105 deliveries, while Duminy scored 42 in 53 balls.

It was an excellent win for the Proteas, and they will take tremendous heart from both the performance and the result. The West Indies will on the other hand be very disappointed at not having been more competitive and must sort out their team composition first and foremost. The performance of both the Bravos was good as was Sulieman Benn's first spell with the ball. They will hope to kickstart their World Cup campaign when they meet the Netherlands right here in Delhi this coming Monday. South Africa too have the Netherlands next on their fixture list, with a trip north to Mohali in the offing on the 3^rd of March.

Teams:

South Africa: Graeme Smith (c), Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Robin Peterson, Johan Botha, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir.

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Darren Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy (c), Devon Thomas (wk), Sulieman Benn, Kemar Roach.

Mini Scorecard

West Indies 222 all out in 47.3 overs (4.67 runs per over)
Darren Bravo 73(82) I Tahir 4-41
Dwayne Bravo 40(37) D Steyn 2-24

South Africa 223/3 in 42.5 overs (5.2 runs per over)
AB de Villiers 107*(105) K Pollard 1-37
Graeme Smith 45(78) K Roach 1-42

Also Read: Australia v New Zealand, India v England

File Photograph Copyright: ICC World T20