South Africa out to 6-1 to reach semi-finals after Rohit Sharma stars for India

South Africa's wait for a first Cricket World Cup triumph is set to continue after the Proteas lost to India by six wickets at the Hampshire Bowl.

That made it three defeats out of three for South Africa, who came into the tournament as 9-1 fourth-favourites but were out to 50-1 after their latest setback.

South Africa were eased to 6-1 by Sky Bet to reach the semi-finals and they must cope without paceman Dale Steyn, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury.

After Faf du Plessis won the toss and chose to bat, South Africa’s opening runs line was around the 290 mark but they were soon in trouble after a dazzling opening spell from India’s Jasprit Bumrah.

The ace fast bowler dismissed both South Africa openers before leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal ran through the middle-order to leave the Proteas 89-5.

Some lower-order hitting dragged them to 227-9 with number eight Chris Morris top-scoring with 42 but opener Rohit Sharma steered India through the run-chase with a fine unbeaten century.

India, 100-30 second-favourites in the ante-post betting, were trimmed to 3-1 following a solid performance in their first game.

Sharma, a 16-1 chance to be the top World Cup runscorer before the tournament began, made the perfect start to his campaign, scoring 122 not out.

The ton gives him a handsome early lead over Kohli, an 11-8 favourite to be India’s leading runscorer at the tournament, who was dismissed for 18.

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