ICC World Cup 2015: India vs South Africa - Stats of the match

India completed an emphatic 130-run victory over the Proteas

Defending champions India have flexed their muscle and made a strong statement that they ought to be considered one of the favourites as they overcame a strong South African outfit by 130 runs in a Pool B encounter of the World Cup today.

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, MS Dhoni’s men posted an imposing total of 307 for 7 on the board, with Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane being the stars of the show. While Dhawan played a sparkling innings of 137 off 146 balls, Rahane’s contribution was no less. The Mumbaikar scored 79 from just 60 deliveries, to provide the impetus that the Indian innings needed.

South Africa were never really in the hunt during their run chase, losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually bundled out for 177. As a result of this victory, India are now on top of Pool B with 4 points under their belt while South Africa remain on 2 points.

Here are the most interesting stats from the match:

4 – India have set South Africa a target of 300 or more on 4 occasions in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) until now and have won each one of them.

6 – This is India’s 6th consecutive victory in World Cups, which is their 2nd longest streak behind the 8 wins they achieved in the 2003 World Cup.

130 – India’s victory by an emphatic margin of 130 runs is their biggest in terms of runs against any team in ODIs in Australia.

53 – The number of times MS Dhoni has been involved in a 300+ total in ODIs, overtaking Sachin Tendulkar, who was the previous highest having been involved on 52 occasions.

22 – The number of centuries scored by Indian players in World Cups. Only Australia, with 23 hundreds, have had more in World Cups.

3 – Shikhar Dhawan has become just the 3rd Indian batsman to start his maiden World Cup with back-to-back 50+ scores, the other two being none other than Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

137 – Dhawan’s knock of 137 is now the highest score against South Africa in a World Cup match, surpassing Stephen Fleming’s score of 134 in the 2003 World Cup.

7 – Dhawan brought up his 7th century in ODI cricket today, and impressively, India have never lost on any of these 7 occasions.

85 – Wayne Parnell conceded 85 runs from his 9 overs, which is the most by a South African in World Cup history.

0 – India maintained their record of never losing an ODI in Australia after crossing the 300 mark.