While the two teams met on the field in the high profile clash yesterday at the Oval,fans of both India and South Africa, as well as cricketing enthusiasts, took to Twitter to fight their own battle of wits. As the Twitter handle #INDvsSA trended during the match, Twitterati went from wishing their favourite teams luck to mocking the other team and discussing the performances of players as the match unfolded. Out of favour batsman Suresh Raina took to Twitter to wish his team luck in the virtual quarter final.
All the best #TeamIndia. Bring it home guys. Billions of wishes are with you #IndvsSA #letsdoit #cupisyours @BCCI @ICC
— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) June 11, 2017
There was especially a lot of talk about the performance of the Indian team on the field, and the unfortunate misunderstandings between South African batsmen that led to costly run out dismissals, bringing back the very familiar talk about “choking” – the derogatory term used to characterise the way South Africa have a way of crashing and burning in critical matches of ICC tournaments, which is probably the reason they have yet to win a major ICC tournament in their three decades of post-apartheid cricket.
Meanwhile South Africa Chocking Like…#INDvSA #IndvsSA #CT17 #Dhoni #Kohli pic.twitter.com/LBfjfIbWzr
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) June 11, 2017
There was a lot of light hearted jibes at the South African batsmen as in one of the biggest turning points of India’s match against South Africa, a comedy of errors resulted in David Miller returning to the pavilion run-out, almost immediately after his captain got out in the same fashion.
Miller , Du plessis Were Trying To Copy Pakistani Batsmens Runout Act ??? #INDvsSA #CT17 pic.twitter.com/iPGBjV9tyT
— Shehryar Khan (@Pathan_007_) June 11, 2017
After it became clear that South Africa were going to fold for a below-200 total and the match was firmly in India’s hands, the jokes reared up, with a lot of twitter users wondering if the renewed form of the Indian team was not cause the Proteas wore – a reference to their rivalry with Pakistan and the hiding their arch-rivals received from India in their first match.
Best Thing About Today's Match Is South Africa's Jersey Color Is Also Green.
RT If You Know What I Mean. ?#INDvSA #CT17 #Kohli #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/ofVqfJWLHu— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) June 11, 2017
In the end, there was a lot of exhilaration as India secured the win with a wonderful partnership between Kohli and Dhawan. Dhawan has done especially well, as also the last Champions trophy, and it was quickly pointed out.
Shikhar Dhawan Breaks Sachin's Record. Becomes Fastest To Score 1000 Runs In #ICC ODI Events.#INDvSA #INDvsSA #CT17 #Kohli #Dhoni #Dhawan pic.twitter.com/Tg6Y0r9dHN
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) June 11, 2017
Shikhar Dhawan Is That School Kid Who Fails In Class 12th Exams But Gets Good Rank In #IITJEE.#INDvSA #INDvsSA #CT17 #Kohli #Dhoni #Dhawan
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) June 11, 2017
There was also praise for Faf du Plessis, who scored a fighting half century and bowled an excellent spell.
RT If You Feel Faf du Plessis Deserves To Be Today's Man Of The Match.#INDvSA #INDvsSA #CT17 #Kohli #Dhoni #Dhawan pic.twitter.com/WveRTNtUdC
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) June 11, 2017