Live report - India vs South Africa, Eden Gardens

11m ago

19m ago

Jansen has been easily the most successful bowler in the powerplay this World Cup. He has picked up 12 wickets in that phase; Madushanka is second with seven. And he could have added one more to his tally.

It is not clear from the only replay we have had but looks like Tabraiz Shamsi dropped Rohit. It was a wide delivery from Jansen and Rohit threw his bat at it. The thick outside edge flew towards deep third where Shamsi had to charge in. Looks like he got there and had his hands under the ball but ended up grassing it.

Rohit rubs it in with a boundary and two sixes in the next over.

India 61/0 in 5

35m ago

We saw Sri Lanka having a leg slip for Rohit and Gill when left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka bowled the first over. South Africa, too, are using the same ploy with Jansen bowling to Gill in the second over.

But Jansen seemed to be struggling with his line. Three times in the over he strayed down the leg side, once finding the gap between the keeper and leg slip for five extras. Another was so wide outside off that the first slip stopped it. Amid all that, Gill hit two pristine fours on either side of the wicket.

India 22/0 after 2

Amid the hysteria yesterday, though, Kohli kept calm and carried on. A small crowd gathered in the stands behind him had started chanting "King Kohli". He gestured at them to stay quiet during the training session. And immediately there was pin-drop silence. Sidharth Monga has more here.

It's pitch No. 5 for today's game, the same strip that was used for Bangladesh vs Netherlands game. Ravi Shastri says that from one end, the pitch will help spinners but from the other, the ball should come onto the bat nicely.

The square boundaries are 62 and 68 metres. Down the ground it is 63 metres.

1h ago

India win the toss and opt to bat first. "Looks like a good pitch," says Rohit Sharma. "Honestly, it's less to do with the pitch and more about what we want to do as a team, and whatever the conditions are, we want to challenge ourselves. It's gonna be a good team, the two teams who are at the top of the table and playing consistent cricket. I love playing here, and the Indian team loves coming here - it's a historic ground. We are playing the same team. I don't think we need to change anything. We have played the last four-five games with the same bowling line-up, and they have done a great job."

"Looking at the wicket, we would have batted first," says Temba Bavuma. "But now we have the responsibility of chasing. It would be a nice challenge for us to chase and get over the line. We know that's one are of our game we would like to get more confidence in and strengthen our blueprint. We have put good all-round performances with the bat - most of the batters are smashing it. The bowlers have put their hands up as well. We have only one change: Tabraiz Shamsi comes in for Gerald Coetzee."

Do you back your strength, or look to exploit your opponent's weakness? Rohit Sharma and Temba Bavuma will have that question in their minds as they walk out for the toss.

South Africa love to bat first. Their top order invariably sets the platform for the middle order to go berserk. Batting first in this World Cup, their totals have been 428, 311, 399, 382 and 357. On each occasion, they won by more than 100 runs. While chasing, though, they lost to Netherlands and narrowly escaped, with a one-wicket win, against Pakistan.

For India, it's the opposite. They prefer having a target in front of them so that they can pace their innings accordingly. Batting first, they can appear unsure about how hard to go. So whoever wins the toss on Sunday will have to make the tricky call.

You can read more about it in our preview.

1h ago

India and South Africa. The two teams at the top of the points table. The two teams that have qualified for the semi-finals. The two teams with most bases covered. India have won their all seven matches so far in the tournament. South Africa have six wins from seven games. Now these two teams will be face-to-face at Eden Gardens in what could turn out to be a dress rehearsal for the final.

I am Hemant Brar and will bring you all the action from Kolkata. So fasten your seatbelts as we build towards this blockbuster contest.