Defending champions India demolished South Africa by 130 runs, dealing the Proteas their heaviest World Cup defeat in front of almost 87,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, while Sri Lanka survived a scare against Afghanistan.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan smashed a career-best 137 with 16 boundaries and two sixes while Ajinkya Rahane made 79 and Virat Kohli added 46 to the 107 he scored in India’s opening 76-run win over Pakistan.
With two wins from as many Pool B games, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men will move into the quarter-finals if they beat the United Arab Emirates in Perth on February 28.
South Africa, one of the pre-tournament favourites who beat Zimbabwe in their first match, have two points and next face West Indies in Sydney on Saturday.
“It was a back-to-back good performance from both the bowling and batting unit, which is why we can enjoy it,” said India captain Dhoni.
“South Africa are such a good side, so I think that makes it an even more satisfying win. I felt the bowlers bowled well in the right areas and the spinners varied their pace.”
Dhawan, who made 73 against Pakistan, put on 127 for the second wicket with Kohli and 125 for the third with Rahane.
He eventually fell in the 44th over when Hashim Amla, who had floored a difficult chance off Wayne Parnell when the batsman was on 53, picked up an easy catch at fine-leg off the same bowler.
When South Africa batted, chasing what would have been a record winning score at the MCG, Quinton de Kock, who had hit centuries in each of the last three one-dayers against India, was caught at mid-off for seven.
Amla made 22 when he top-edged seamer Mohit Sharma and Mohammad Shami, who had claimed de Kock’s wicket, took a catch at long-leg.
Skipper AB de Villiers made 30 in a 67-run stand for the third wicket with Faf du Plessis, who top-scored with 55.
But de Villiers was run out before Mohit Sharma had du Plessis caught at mid-off by Dhawan while Ravichandran Ashwin had JP Duminy picked up in the slips and then trapped Philander leg before.
In between, David Miller was run out for 22 to leave South Africa on 153 for seven in 34 overs.
– ‘Not good enough’ –
Shami then dismissed Steyn, Ashwin bowled Morne Morkel and Ravindra Jadeja claimed Imran Tahir leg-before.
“It was not a good enough performance as a batting unit and now we have to regroup,” said de Villiers, whose side went down with almost 10 overs to spare.
Earlier, Mahela Jayawardene’s 19th ODI century rescued 1996 champions Sri Lanka as they beat Afghanistan by four wickets in Dunedin.
Set a modest target of 233 to win the Pool A game, Sri Lanka were stunned when openers Lahiru Thirimanne and Tillakaratne Dilshan both fell for golden ducks.
But the 37-year-old Jayawardene (100) and skipper Angelo Mathews (44) steadied the ship with a 126-run partnership before Sri Lanka won with 10 balls to spare.
It was Sri Lanka’s first win in two games following a 98-run defeat by New Zealand.
“We really need to raise our standards to compete against the top teams,” said Mathews, whose side next face Bangladesh on Thursday.
Asghar Stanikzai (54) top-scored for Afghanistan but Sri Lanka were in trouble when they batted with Dawlat Zadran having Thirimanne leg before wicket with the first ball, while Dilshan was caught behind off the first ball he faced from Shapoor Zadran in the second over.
Hamid Hassan then bowled Kumar Sangakkara for seven and Dimuth Karunaratne was caught behind for 23 as Sri Lanka slipped to 51 for four against an Afghanistan side beaten in their tournament opener by Bangladesh.
Hassan came back to end Jayawardene’s stand and finished with figures of three for 45.
Sri Lanka were 178 for six, still requiring 54 runs in under nine overs, when Thisara Perera eased their nerves with a quickfire unbeaten 47.
“I felt we were short by 30-40 runs. We put pressure on them in the end. We kept them to a tight game, so we are pleased by that,” said Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi, whose team next play Scotland in Dunedin on Thursday.