NEW DELHI: Leg-spinner Imran Tahir made a memorable international debut by scalping four key wickets as South Africa bundled out West Indies for 222 in 47.3 overs in their World Cup Group-B league match on Thursday.
The 31-year-old Tahir returned with impressive figures of 10-1-41-4 to take the bowling honours on what appeared to be a good track at the Ferozeshah Kotla, hosting its first match since December 2009 after the India-Sri Lanka ODI was abandoned because of a "dangerous" pitch.
Darren Bravo (73) was the top scorer for the West Indians who never really got to take control of the innings after being put in to bat by South African skipper Graeme Smith.
The Caribbeans failed to recover from the early jolt of losing their opener Chris Gayle in the very first over and although a few players got the starts, they could not translate them into big knocks.
South Africa opened the bowling with spinner Johan Botha and the move paid dividends straightaway as he accounted for dangerous Gayle on the third ball of the innings.
Gayle tried to play on the leg side but only succeeded in edging the ball to Jacques Kallis at the slip.
Morne Morkel replaced Botha whose first spell read 3-0-11-1 while Kallis took the bowling responsibility from Dale Steyn at the other end.
Kallis turned out to be quite expensive in his first over as Bravo spanked him for two boundaries.
Smith and Bravo steadied the innings after the early loss of Gayle by playing cautiously but were quick to dispatch the loose deliveries to the boundary.
While Bravo was the more aggressive of the two batsmen, unleashing a flurry of shots on both sides of the wicket, Smith was quite content in playing second fiddle and giving strike to his partner.
The duo brought up the 100-run stand for the second wicket in 19.4 overs and put the Caribbean innings back on track as the South Africans tried to break the partnership.
Just when West Indies seemed to be cruising along comfortably, the Proteas struck three vital blows to unsettle them again with leg-spinner Tahir doing the damage on two occasions.
Devon smith (36), Bravo (73) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (2) were the three batsmen who returned to the pavilion in quick succession as West Indies suddenly slumped to 120/4.
It was Botha who triggered the collapse by getting rid of Bravo who was looking quite comfortable at the middle.
Bravo looked to flick a well tossed-up delivery but missed the line and was trapped leg before. He went for the referral but the television umpire also ruled him out much to his disappointment.
Smith was the next to depart as he offered a simple return catch to Tahir who made no mistake while Sarwan was trapped leg before to the same bowler a few minutes later.
It was then left to Shivanarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo to do the repair work. Bravo played his natural game and clobbered three huge sixes early in his knock.
The pair put on 58 runs for the fifth wicket before Bravo was run out after Chanderpaul made the mistake of calling him for a non-existent run. Bravo's quickfire 40 came off 37 balls and contained one boundary and three sixes.
As if to atone for his mistake, Chanderpaul lifted spinner Robin Peterson for a six over the mid wicket region as the West Indian batsmen tried to accelerate the pace of scoring after the 40th over.
Chanderpaul, who played a few more attacking shots, could not sustain the tempo as he fell victim to Tahir with Peterson taking a well-judged catch at the long on region. He went for a lofted shot but could not time the ball properly.
The hard-hitting Kieron Pollard, who joined the action after Chanderpaul's dismissal, did not trouble the scorer at all as he perished in the very first ball he faced.
Steyn, who returned for his last spell, got the leg before decision of Pollard in his favour after a referral was called for by the South Africans.
Darren Bravo (73) was the top scorer for the West Indians who never really got to take control of the innings after being put in to bat by South African skipper Graeme Smith.
The Caribbeans failed to recover from the early jolt of losing their opener Chris Gayle in the very first over and although a few players got the starts, they could not translate them into big knocks.
South Africa opened the bowling with spinner Johan Botha and the move paid dividends straightaway as he accounted for dangerous Gayle on the third ball of the innings.
Gayle tried to play on the leg side but only succeeded in edging the ball to Jacques Kallis at the slip.
Morne Morkel replaced Botha whose first spell read 3-0-11-1 while Kallis took the bowling responsibility from Dale Steyn at the other end.
Kallis turned out to be quite expensive in his first over as Bravo spanked him for two boundaries.
Smith and Bravo steadied the innings after the early loss of Gayle by playing cautiously but were quick to dispatch the loose deliveries to the boundary.
While Bravo was the more aggressive of the two batsmen, unleashing a flurry of shots on both sides of the wicket, Smith was quite content in playing second fiddle and giving strike to his partner.
The duo brought up the 100-run stand for the second wicket in 19.4 overs and put the Caribbean innings back on track as the South Africans tried to break the partnership.
Just when West Indies seemed to be cruising along comfortably, the Proteas struck three vital blows to unsettle them again with leg-spinner Tahir doing the damage on two occasions.
Devon smith (36), Bravo (73) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (2) were the three batsmen who returned to the pavilion in quick succession as West Indies suddenly slumped to 120/4.
It was Botha who triggered the collapse by getting rid of Bravo who was looking quite comfortable at the middle.
Bravo looked to flick a well tossed-up delivery but missed the line and was trapped leg before. He went for the referral but the television umpire also ruled him out much to his disappointment.
Smith was the next to depart as he offered a simple return catch to Tahir who made no mistake while Sarwan was trapped leg before to the same bowler a few minutes later.
It was then left to Shivanarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo to do the repair work. Bravo played his natural game and clobbered three huge sixes early in his knock.
The pair put on 58 runs for the fifth wicket before Bravo was run out after Chanderpaul made the mistake of calling him for a non-existent run. Bravo's quickfire 40 came off 37 balls and contained one boundary and three sixes.
As if to atone for his mistake, Chanderpaul lifted spinner Robin Peterson for a six over the mid wicket region as the West Indian batsmen tried to accelerate the pace of scoring after the 40th over.
Chanderpaul, who played a few more attacking shots, could not sustain the tempo as he fell victim to Tahir with Peterson taking a well-judged catch at the long on region. He went for a lofted shot but could not time the ball properly.
The hard-hitting Kieron Pollard, who joined the action after Chanderpaul's dismissal, did not trouble the scorer at all as he perished in the very first ball he faced.
Steyn, who returned for his last spell, got the leg before decision of Pollard in his favour after a referral was called for by the South Africans.
