Indian analyst Prasanna Agoram decodes how South Africa beat India in World Cup 2011

Indian analyst Prasanna Agoram revealed how he helped South Africa beat India in the 2011 World Cup group match. It was the only defeat that the Men In Blue had suffered in their successful campaign and there was no looking back for Dhoni & Co. after that as India eventually went on to lift their second World Cup trophy after a long wait of 28 years. 

The Proteas on the other hand topped the group, but a loss against New Zealand in the quarterfinals halted their progress in the tournament.

'This was the theory behind it': Prasanna Agoram 

“So if the batting powerplay is taken then, by 37 overs Zaheer would have bowled 9 overs. My concept was that a batsman would anyway swing in the last 5 overs, so the powerplay is always wasted at that time. Another thing was, as the ball got older, his reverse was more effective. It is not easy to defeat India in India. For the last 10 overs, we needed 69 runs with 7 wickets standing and Zaheer Khan has only one over to bowl. In that situation, it is very simple,” said Prasanna Agoram during a YouTube interaction with veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

“So Dhoni got Zaheer back again in the 49th over. There were 17 runs required in the 2 overs. Even then, we played him out for 4 overs. Ashish Nehra had 13 runs to defend. Game over in 4 balls. So this was the theory behind it,” he added.

 

South Africa beat India in a thriller

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. Openers Sachin Tendulkar and, Virender Sehwag added 142 runs for the opening stand. Sachin brought up his 99th international century and was involved in a 125-run stand with Gautam Gambhir. 

However, as soon as the Master Blaster was dismissed, the Indian batting suffered a dramatic collapse soon after as they ended up losing their last eight wickets for 29 runs and were eventually bundled out for 296 even before completing their full quota of 50 overs. 

In reply, the Proteas were cruising towards an easy win despite having lost the wicket of skipper Graeme Smith early on. But, some tight bowling in the middle and death overs brought India right into the contest. 

The ball was in Team India's court after the end of the penultimate over bowled by Zaheer Khan as  SA needed 13 runs from the final over with just three wickets in hand. Nonetheless, Ashish Nehra failed to get the job done as Robin Petersen dispatched him through the covers for a boundary and jumped in delight as the Proteas won the match by three wickets with two balls to spare.

(Image Courtesy: PTI)