The hosts India remain the favourites to win the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup after a convincing 243-run win against South Africa in Kolkata on Sunday.

The toss was won by India and opted to have a bat first and scored 326/5 in their allotted 50-overs thanks to a brilliant 101 not out by Rohit Sharma, on what was his birthday, while Shreyas Iyer chipped in 77.

While the Indian batters were superb, the Proteas bowling unit was woeful and the only bowler to concede less than 7 runs an over was the spinner, Keshav Maharaj, who took 1/30 in this 10 overs.

To make matters worse for South Africa, their batters performed even worse than the bowlers as they were bowled out for just 83-runs.

The allrounder, Marco Jansen, was the Proteas top-scorer with a mere 14-runs, while Ravindra Jadeja took 5/33 to become the first Indian spinner to take a five-for at a World Cup.

While the Proteas were hammered, it’s far from panic-stations as Pakistan’s win according to the DLS method against New Zealand ensured that South Africa qualified for the semi-finals.

Temba Bavuma - Cricinfo

The Proteas coach, Rob Walter, said they will be taking the lessons learnt from the defeat and he is sure that his team will rebound against Afghanistan.

“They're a hell of a team. And very well balanced and highly skilled - there's no way around it, they've won every game and they've won it well,” said Walter.

“You have to believe that on a day if you execute your skills, you've also got a chance and we just didn't right from the word go. We know already what Marco Jansen can do with a new ball, today was an off day, the guy's a young guy playing in a World Cup, he's played seven excellent games to point and didn't have a great start today and could just as easily bowl very well the next time we find ourselves against him if we're able to.

“This game is a funny game and you get taught new lessons every single day and get surprised every single day. So, it wouldn't surprise me if the tables turned the next time around. The beauty of it is that there may well be another shot for us and we've been given an opportunity to learn from that.”

On Friday, the Proteas will face Afghanistan in Ahmedabad in their final round-robin game before the semi-finals.

Virat Kolhi - Cricinfo

Meanwhile, Kohli, equalled the record of the great Sachin Tendulkar, for the most centuries in One-Day International cricket.

The knock on his 35th birthday took his tally to 49 centuries, and he achieved this feat in a staggering 174 less ODI’s than the great maestro.

Kohli, who walks in the shadows of Tendulkar said it a huge honour to equal the record of his hero.

“Tendulkar's message is quite special - for me, it's all too much to take in right now, to be honest, to equal my hero's record in one-day internationals is something that's a huge honour for me.

“I know that people like comparisons, I am never going to be as good as him. There's a reason why we all looked up to him. He's perfection when it comes to batting. I am trying to do my best, trying to win games for my country.

“He's always going to be my hero regardless of what happens. It's a very emotional moment for me. I know where I come from, the days that I watched him play on TV and to stand here and get this appreciation from someone like him means a lot to me.”

On Monday at 10:30, Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka in Delhi in a game that serves as nothing more than a formality as both teams stand no chance of reaching the knockout stage.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport