Nagpur: After Sachin Tendulkar hit his second century of this World Cup in front of a cheering Nagpur crowd against South Africa in a key match, Gautam Gambhir followed with a cautious 50.
Tendulkar cracked seven fours and three sixes to reach his 48th One-Day International hundred. Earlier, he fired a full toss from Botha beyond the rope to cross Strauss to become the second top scorer of this World Cup.
India had to slow down fireworks a bit after Faf du Plessis bowled dangerman Virender Sehwag out giving some time for South Africa to breath here in a key World Cup match on Saturday.
It was the change that worked for South Africa, first the spinners put brakes on the run rout and then du Plessis struck down Sehwag’s (73) leg stump 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 overs the duo kept 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.