Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar got India off to a flying start in their crucial Group B game against South Africa at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur on Saturday.
Earlier, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first.
India, after a lot of deliberation, decided to go in with three pacers and two spinners. And here the second spinner with Harbhajan was not Piyush Chawla but Yuvraj Singh, who has been extremely effective with his slow left arm spin.
Munaf Patel will be the third seamer with Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra.
South Africa didn't take risk playing injured Imran Tahir in the playing eleven and included off-spinner Johan Botha in place of the leg spinner.
Co-hosts India found it hard to chase modest totals against Ireland and the Netherlands before clinching the respective games.
But a tie against England and the victory over Bangladesh in the opener have virtually assured them a place in the quarterfinals.
They have seven points from four games and sitting pretty at the top of the points table with still a game in hand against the West Indies.
And though, South Africa registered convincing wins against the West Indies and the Netherlands, they once again exposed their weakness of squandering things from winning position.
The Proteas have four points from three games and the outcome of Saturday's game would hardly affect their chances of entering the last eight as they still have to play against Ireland and Bangladesh.
