(Image source from: BBC)

Rohit Sharma’s gutsy century and sensational bowling by Yuzvendra Chahal led India to a six-wicket win over South Africa in their first World Cup match at Southampton on Wednesday.

Sharma scored an unbeaten 122 and Chahal finished with 4/51 to give South Africa for the first time to lose three matches consecutively on a trot in World Cup.

After South Africa scored 227/9, India got off to an unstable start losing Shikhar Dhawan quite early. However, Kagiso Rabada gave India the first jolt by dismissing Shikhar Dhawan (8) in the sixth over with just 13 runs on the board.

Along with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli then tried to steady the innings along but Andile Phehlukwayo got rid of the Indian skipper just after they crossed the 50-run mark. Kohli not up to the scratch to judge the extra bounce by Phehlukwayo and edged it towards the man behind the stump Quinton de Kock who took an absolute stunner to send the Indian captain back.

Kohli (18) added 41 runs for the second wicket along with Rohit Sharma.

As India was moving at a leisurely pace towards the target, Rabada struck again in the 32nd over to send back KL Rahul (26) after his 85-run stand for the third wicket with Rohit Sharma.  

“VICTORY! Pandya hits the winning runs! What an innings by him, completely against the grain of the match. 15 runs off 7 balls. Three boundaries in that knock. India beat South Africa by 6 wickets!” Cricket World Cup tweets soon after India’s victory.

A fantastic performance from #TeamIndia and in particular from these two!

They win their opening game by six wickets.
All scores and stats here https://t.co/yx6Mkqsy3J#SAvIND #CWC19 #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/1wTjcvQLya

— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 5, 2019

Rohit Sharma was declared player of the match. "Couldn't play my natural game today, the ball was doing a lot. Needed time to play my shots," says Rohit Sharma.

By Sowmya Sangam