Rain came, inevitably, and stopped play with India on 45 for 3 after 17 overs. The sudden ferocity of the rain made it unlikely that this match would go the distance. The Indians, after their horrid start, were unlikely to mind.

15 overs India 41 for 3 (Ganguly 9*, Yuvraj 0*)

India got off to their worst start of the tournament, stumbling to 41 for 3 at the end of 15 overs. There was nothing wrong in the pitch or the conditions; it was all due to some good bowling by South Africa and bad shot selection by the Indians.

Makhaya Ntini began with a fast, fiery spell, and Virender Sehwag, who had been hit on the arm by an Ntini snorter in the last match, was expecially uncomfortable against him. Ntini was liberal with short stuff, and Sehwag had no answers to the questions he posed. A miscued pull looped up in the air and fell just short of Mark Boucher, and he also played and missed at regulation corridor deliveries on a good length.

It was Shaun Pollock who snared Sehwag, though. Sehwag (8), deceived by Pollock’s lack of pace, attempted to smash him over long-on but could only hit him straight to Allan Dawson at mid-on (19 for 1).

Gautam Gambhir had shown plenty of aggression in his short innings, but no placement. His 11 runs took him 33 balls to make, and it was no surprise when he flayed at Ntini in the 12th over and only managed to edge it to second slip, where Neil McKenzie took a good high catch (35 for 2).

Play was held up for a while then, not by rain but by strong winds that brooked no defiance. Umpire hats slid with geometric grace across the field, and drinks was called early. The moment passed, and play began again.

There was no reprieve for India though. Kaif (5), after wristily flicking Ntini for four through midwicket, miscued a pull shot. Jacques Rudolph at mid-on took a sitter, and India were 41 for 3. Kaif glanced at the skies as he walked; more, perhaps, in prayer than in admonition

South Africa did not make any changes in their team, opting once again to play with just one specialist spinner. And while the weather was good, thunderstorms were forecast for later in the day.

Teams India 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 Mohammad Kaif, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Dinesh Mongia, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Amit Mishra, 11 Zaheer Khan.

South Africa 1 Herschelle Gibbs, 2 Graeme Smith (capt), 3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Boeta Dippenaar, 5 Neil McKenzie, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Shaun Pollock, 8 Andrew Hall, 9 Alan Dawson, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Paul Adams.