India thrashed South Africa by 243 runs to reduce the much-hyped clash between the table toppers to a one-sided affair. Abhishek Mukherjee reports from Eden Gardens.

This was not Pakistan, playing against whom often means more to many a fan from both nations than a game of bat and ball. Neither is this Australia or England, for whom a cricketing contest is often a battle of rights and wrongs and controversies, for they join India to complete the Big Three of world cricket.

Both teams had already qualified for the semi-finals. Nothing but cricket was at stake here. India had won seven matches out of seven. South Africa, six – but their defeat against the Netherlands seemed from another lifetime.

The quest for the top spot as well as going one-up on the other were at stake. And surely no one wants to lose a World Cup match?

There was more. As India had brushed aside one opposition after another, often by convincing margins, you would hear the sceptics alert you of South Africa. You could see why: they struck at 111 ahead of the clash, significantly ahead of India’s 97. India might have taken a wicket every 27 balls, but at 25, South Africa did even better.

This was the opposition to beat. True, they had gone for more runs and lost wickets more often than India, but South Africa had arrived in Kolkata to look India square in the eye.

There were also the memories of a night from 27 years ago, when India had played a men’s 50-over World Cup match at the venue for the only time. It had ended in a one-sided capitulation for the hosts, followed by a riot.

Five minutes into the match, however, India had seized control and South Africa had conceded it. Marco Jansen lost his radar and had to be taken off after two overs. Rohit Sharma lofted Lungi Ngidi for two sixes in the fifth over. India soon entered unchartered territory, for never had they scored as many as 61 runs in the first five overs of an ODI.

The critics still voiced their first apprehension – the usual “threw his wicket away” – when Rohit Sharma smashed Kagiso Rabada to mid-off.  You cannot blame them, for Rohit’s current avatar is as alien to them as is India’s devastating bowling attack.

After 10 overs, India were 91-1 – more than South Africa would make in the evening, though no one knew that at this point. Then Keshav Maharaj spun a near-unplayable ball to bowl Shubman Gill. If you had not seen the fate at the toss – South Africa had replaced Gerald Coetzee with Tabraiz Shamsi – you could certainly see it then.

On another day, against another side, Maharaj might have sealed the match for his side. Here, Virat Kohli took his time. Shreyas Iyer, even more so, taking 50 balls for his first 27 runs. They saw Maharaj off, taking 30 in his 10 overs, for they knew they would get the runs off the others.

Iyer stepped up, almost nonchalantly, taking only another 14 balls to reach his fifty. As Iyer raced through his sixties, Kohli was fine to take a backseat. Iyer perished in the pursuit of runs and KL Rahul followed, but by then, the focus of the packed stadium had shifted.

Kohli’s world-record-equalling 49th hundred had been long overdue. The anticipation had intensified after the 95 against New Zealand and the 88 against Sri Lanka. This was his 35th birthday as well, which added to the sense of occasion.

There were two worlds at play now. The first, who wanted the hundred at any cost, if not for the man then at least for the hoodoo to be off the back before the knockouts. And then, there were those who believed that he took too long, took too few risks even at the death as the coveted milestone approached.

As the two worlds clashed on social media and off it, Kohli himself eased into a pace and got there in due time. At the other end, Suryakumar Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja did their things to take India to 326-5.

With the hundred out of the way, the question returned: was this target enough against the fastest-scoring side at the World Cup, a team that has reached 350 four times and posted the highest score in the history of the tournament?

Quinton de Kock was the threat, of course. This was his swansong series, and he had already made it special with four hundreds in seven matches. Surely a fifth was not too much to expect?

He lasted ten balls, chopping one on to the stumps off Mohammed Siraj. Jasprit Bumrah did not get a wicket. This made some uneasy (will the others be enough?). But while the wickets did not come, neither did the runs. After eight overs, South Africa had crawled to 21-1.

Perhaps encouraged by Maharaj’s performance, Rohit brought Jadeja on inside the powerplay, ahead of Mohammed Shami. Jadeja’s third ball did not turn as much as Maharaj’s had to get Gill; but it was quicker, and moved enough to beat Temba Bavuma’s bat and hit the off stump.

Mohammed Shami had Aiden Markram caught behind in the next over. Two successful reviews later, Heinrich Klaasen and Rassie van der Dussen were back as well. From then, it was a matter of time before South Africa collapsed to 83, fewer than what Kohli had made earlier in the day.

Towards the end, the crowd demanded Kohli got a bowl. You could hardly blame them for demanding entertainment. They had got ‘their’ century, but their side had been so good that they had also been ripped off more than twenty overs of solid cricket. India had sealed the match by the first hour of the second half.

Jadeja got five wickets. When Rohit brought on Kuldeep Yadav, the best left-arm wrist-spinner in the world, it was not out of compulsion but choice, and even he got a couple of wickets. India woyld won the match with four bowlers. Against Sri Lanka, their spinners had shared 15 balls. They might have won that one with three.

India do not have a sixth bowler, and are a mid-match injury away from having their part-timers share ten overs. But then, if you are so good that even your fifth bowler – a world-class option, whoever he is – is an afterthought, why worry about a sixth?

India have a long tail too. None of their last four would have been misfits at No.11. Yet, only once in this tournament – against England – were they needed. And even if they were needed, and India were bowled out cheaply, surely their bowlers would be able to defend any score?

There are valid concerns with the Indian side – about the balance, not the quality, never the quality; but the team has risen above each of them, as they did yet again, for the eighth time in a row.

Eden Gardens had finally put the nightmare of the 1996 semi-final to rest. That night, fans had left the ground in amidst fire and smoke and haze. Tonight, the city celebrated, living up to its moniker of the City of Joy.

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