Continuing their unbeaten streak, India thrash the tournament favourites South Africa, defeating them by a huge margin of 243 runs. The encounter between the two most successful teams in this campaign was a sight every fan was waiting for. And what was expected to be a thrilling match eventually turned into a rather one sided affair, just like many which happened in this tournament. Men in Blue outplayed the Protea team in every department, owning the game and stamping their authority in the tournament yet again.

Winning the toss, India chose to bat. Knowing South Africa's chasing woes and their prowess while batting first, it was an obvious decision. The pitch report showed some aid to the bowlers, and some difficulties for batters. However, the way Rohit Sharma started the innings it looked completely opposite. He launched an attack on prime Protea bowlers and put them on the back foot right since the moment go. He made batting look too easy and displayed his array of effortless shots being dispatched for boundaries. His innings reminded everyone of the Sachin Sehwag opening stand in the 2011 world cup against the same team. Eventually, he was dismissed, but he had done the job to decimate the confidence of South Africa.

The set platform and the South African team's lost confidence helped India's batting line-up to build the innings, which was beautifully capitalised by Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer. Both of them took some time defending the balls, after finding their rhythm. They sensibly played Keshav Maharaj's overs and then started to counter the bowling. Shreyas Iyer yet again proved why he is a quality player of spin, as he gave a hard time to Shamsi. And Virat continued form where he left in the last match. The duo stitched a partnership of 134 runs, before Iyer was dismissed. Flawless Virat showed his class, and reached to a much awaited 49th century. With it, he equalled the record for most odi centuries jointly held by God of cricket Sachin Tendulkar.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. And playing in the tough conditions when Virat reached his well deserved century, a thunderous applause from the Eden Gardens' crowd showed what it meant to them and the Indian team. Skipper Rohit's swashbuckling knock, Virat's gem in the form of a hundred, Iyer's sensational ability to tackle spin, Surykumar Yadav's small cameo and handy contribution from Ravindra Jadeja helped India reach to a good score of 326 runs. The rich vein of success Indian team is enjoying is evident from the fact that on a wicket where around 250 was also considered to be a good score, the team went on to cross 325 run mark. And it was the 3rd occasion when the team batted first to win the game.

Men in Blue have excelled in both, batting first and setting a good total, and chasing a total given to them. And South Africa's woes lie when they chase a given target. They failed brutally against their encounter with Netherlands, and barely managed to win the game against Pakistan. While they are merciless when they bat first, batting second is their weakness, which Indian harnessed to perfection. Knowing their woes at chasing, and the mammoth target they had to reach on a tricky wicket to bat, it seemed like the Protea team gave up even before they entered the field for batting.

And the immensely strong Indian bowling lineup was definitely not going to miss out the opportunity to win big. And they did exactly the same. Continuing to rattle the opposition from their previous encounter against Sri Lanka, they started to bowl tight lines. And it yielded them the prized wicket of in form De Kock where Siraj drew the first blood. Following the first one, the star studded lineup of Dussen, Markram, Miller, Klassen succumbed to Indian bowlers without much resistance. Ravindra Jadeja spun the web beautifully to scalp a well deserved 5-wicker haul which did not give any chance to Proteas, who were bundled for a mere 83 runs. The fate of both the innings was sealed in the first 10 overs of respective inning itself.

A thumping victory over the team which won 5 games with a huge margin, shows what kind of dominance India is displaying. The match also exposed the major loophole of South Africans which they face while chasing. Out of all the teams playing, undoubtedly India look the best of all. Their batters are performing well, with the seniors leading the pack. Their bowlers are breathing fire, and are playing a different brand of cricket than other bowling lineups in the tournament. And the team environment on and off the field is reflecting in lot of positive vibes which are felt by cricket fans globally. The way they are playing the game, reminds everyone of the Australian team of 2000s, which were ruthless. And one would love to see this Indian team dominate the entire tournament similarly, eventually to emerge as champions.