On Sunday, November 5, 2023, India and South Africa faced off in match No. 37 of the ongoing ODI World Cup, taking place at the famous Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The match was top-of-the-table. For the Indian fans, Virat Kohli's 35th birthday proved to be a Super Sunday, as they were given to a treat. In addition to reaching a century, the run machine tied Sachin Tendulkar's 49 century record for the most hundreds in One-Day International cricket. His century added to the day's specialness by helping India win the match handily.
At the Eden Gardens, India won the toss and elected to bat first on a challenging surface. But captain Rohit Sharma gave India a great start, which players like Kohli and Shreyas Iyer turned into a significant one. India scored more runs than anticipated. South Africa needed 327 runs to win and go on top of the table.
Nevertheless, the side led by Temba Bavuma had a start they could never have dreamed of. The tournament's top run scorer, Quinton de Kock, was dismissed early by Mohammed Siraj. The Indian bowling team then proceeded to wreak havoc in the middle, bundling out the Proteas for a mere 83. With this their eighth consecutive victory, the Men in Blue went undefeated in the World Cup. They won by a margin of 243 runs
Brief scores: India 326/5 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 101*, Shreyas Iyer 77; Keshav Maharaj 1-30) beat South Africa 83 in 27.1 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 5-33, Mohammed Shami 2-18, Kuldeep Yadav 2-7) by 243 runs