India endured a steady stream of biting cynicism on Sunday after their World Cup Nagpur nightmare while New Zealand and defending champions Australia eyed wrapping up quarter-final places.
India are still top of Group B with seven points from their five games but their three-wicket defeat to South Africa has forced their demanding fans and media to ponder the possibility of the hosts missing out on the last eight.
It would take a freak twist of results to deny India a quarter-final spot.
But even that was little comfort after the highly regarded team went from 267-1 to 296 all out on Saturday with their last nine wickets falling for just 29 runs in nine overs.
“India choke in cliffhanger” was the Hindustan Times front page headline, the demise of the national cricket team relegating even Japan's tsunami down page.
The Mail Today said: “The choke's on Team India.”
The tag of 'chokers' has traditionally been reserved for South Africa for their big time collapses under pressure, particularly last weekend's embarrassing failure to chase down 172 to beat England in Chennai.
This time, Proteas skipper Graeme Smith, whose side can reach the last eight with a win over Ireland on Tuesday, was revelling in victory especially after fearing the worst when Sachin Tendulkar smashed his 48th ODI century.
Needing 13 to win in the last over off seamer Ashish Nehra, South Africa found an unlikely star in Robin Peterson, who plundered 16 runs off the first four balls to help his side overhaul India's total.
Man of the match Dale Steyn (5-50) played a key role in his team's fightback to bag his maiden five-wicket haul in one-day internationals.
“For 15 overs up front we took an absolute beating but for 75 we played some incredible cricket,” said Smith.
“Chasing 300 on that deck, second innings was a hell of an effort from the guys and I think we're all pretty speechless at the moment.”
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni backed his decision to bring back Nehra for the final over.
And he said the batsmen had earlier lost their way in front of a huge home crowd.
“You don't play for the crowds. They always want you to hit sixes and fours but if you lose quite a few wickets in the powerplay or with overs to spare, it's always better that the batsmen play the overs, delay your slog a bit and get maybe a par score and don't look for that extra 20 or 25 runs,” he said.
“Overall I think the performance was good. If we could have fielded a bit better it definitely would have made the score look slightly bigger but at the same time we're not a side which is known for fielding.”
Mumbai's Wankhede stadium, which will host the April 2 final, gets its first test on Sunday when New Zealand meet Canada, where a win will give the Black Caps a quarter-final place.
The pitch has not been used for two years while the arena was renovated for the World Cup.
The Black Caps are without injured skipper Daniel Vettori, who hurt his knee in the 110-run over Pakistan in Pallekele last Tuesday.
Vice-captain Ross Taylor led the team into the match full of confidence after starring in his side's win over Pakistan, smashing 131 in 124 balls after getting two early let-offs.
Later Sunday, defending champions Australia can also guarantee a last eight place with victory over hapless Kenya in Bangalore. - AFP.com