Nagpur: Faf du Plessis bowled dangerman Virender Sehwag out to give South Africa the much wanted breakthrough in a key World Cup Group B match on Saturday.
The change worked for South Africa, first the spinner put brake on the run rout and then du Plessis struck down Sehwag’s ( 73) leg stumps to end a 142 run opening wicket partnership.
Before giving out his wicket, Virender Sehwag cracked 12 boundaries to reach 73 of 66 balls as he and Sachin Tendulkar gave India fiery start in Nagpur.
In the first 15 over the duo amassed runs keeping the run rate close to nine per over to hit quick half centuries.
Earlier, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni elected to bat after winning the toss against South Africa, a clash that could see the hosts make the quarterfinals.
India made one change from the side that beat the Netherlands by five wickets in the previous match in Delhi, bringing in seamer Munaf Patel in place of leg-spinner Piyush Chawla.
South Africa replaced injured leg-spinner Imran Tahir with off-spinner Johan Botha for the only change from the team that lost to England by six runs in Chennai.
India currently top the seven-team group with seven points from four games, while South Africa have four points from three matches.
A win will guarantee a last-eight place for India.
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel.
South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Morne van Wyk.