India vs South Africa: A Riveting History in the Cricket World Cup

Nov 13, 2025 0

The India national cricket team is one of the full members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the governing body of cricket. There have been thirteen editions of the Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial event hosted by the ICC in the ODI format since 1975. Since its introduction, India has participated in every edition of the Cricket World Cup.

South Africa and India - the No.1 and No.2 sides in the MRF Tyres ODI rankings respectively - have met on 77 occasions in ODI cricket, of which South Africa have won 45 and India 29. Four of those ODIs have come at a World Cup, with the Proteas coming out on top in three of those clashes. Let’s delve into the history of India vs South Africa in the Cricket World Cup.

Champions India and those who walked before | CWC25

Early Encounters

1975 and 1979 World Cups

In the first two editions in 1975 and 1979, the Indian team captained by Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan won only a single match and did not progress past the group stage.

1983 World Cup Victory

Kapil Dev led the India team in the third edition of the World Cup in 1983. India registered its first ever World Cup victories over West Indies, Australia and England cricket teams en route to the final. It won the World Cup for the first time after defeating the West Indies, who had won the inaugural two editions of the World Cup.

1992 World Cup: South Africa's Debut

The 1992 Cricket World Cup was held in Australia and New Zealand. The 1992 World Cup was full of firsts: the first time coloured clothing was worn in the tournament, the first time white balls were used, the first time it was held in the southern hemisphere and the first time South Africa had taken part in the tournament. A new format was introduced for the 1992 World Cup, with the group format scrapped in favour of a round-robin format.

South Africa and India faced off for the first-ever time at a World Cup when they met in the round-robin stage, in their final game of the group. With rain reducing the contest to 30 overs per side, India were put in to bat by South Africa skipper Kepler Wessels. Despite a bad start - losing opener Kris Srikkanth for a duck - India scored at an impressive six-an-over to finish on 180/6. Captain Mohammad Azharuddin top-scored with 79 from 77 balls and was ably supported by Kapil Dev, who struck a quick-fire 42 off just 29 balls.

For the Proteas, an opening stand of 128 between Andrew Hudson (53) and Player of the Match Peter Kirsten (84) went a long way to ensuring their victory. Despite losing Adrian Kuiper and Jonty Rhodes cheaply, South Africa got over the line with five balls to spare. Thus, South Africa won by 6 wickets.

1996 World Cup

The 1996 Cricket World Cup was co-hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The tournament went back to the group format which was last used in the 1987 edition. India started their campaign by defeating Kenya at Cuttack. India restricted Kenya to 199 runs with Anil Kumble taking three wickets and chased down the target to win by seven wickets with Tendulkar scoring a century (127 runs). In the next match against the West Indies at Gwalior, India bowled out West Indies for 173 with Kumble and Prabhakar taking three wickets each. In the quarter finals, India elected to bat after winning the toss and scored 287 runs with Sidhu top scoring with 93 runs. India then restricted Pakistan to 248 runs to complete the win and qualify for the semifinals. In the semifinals at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta on 13 March 1996, India played Sri Lanka in a match which became notorious for poor crowd behavior. India asked Sri Lanka to bat first, who posted a total of 251/8. In reply, India who were at one stage at 98/1, lost seven wickets for 22 runs to slump to 120/8 in the 35th over, with still 132 runs required to win.

1999 World Cup: South Africa Continues Dominance

The 1999 Cricket World Cup was held in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Netherlands. A new format was introduced for the 1999 World Cup, where teams were divided into two groups of six teams each and the top three teams in each group progressed to the Super Six stage. It was seven years before the two sides met again at the World Cup, as they both began their 1999 campaign with a clash in Hove.

Rahul Dravid would finish the tournament as leading run-scorer, and he showed his class in the first game, scoring 54. But the star of India’s batting line-up was opener Sourav Ganguly, who fell three short of a century - run out on 97 as India finished on 253/5.

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India would have been confident of defending their target - especially after disposing of both South Africa’s openers, Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs, for 3 and 7 respectively, leaving the Proteas 22/2. However, Jacques Kallis was at his sublime best, hitting 96 to lead his side’s charge. Around him, valuable runs from Mark Boucher (34) and Jonty Rhodes (39*) helped South Africa reach the target with 16 balls remaining. Thus, South Africa won by 4 wickets.

2003 World Cup

In the first match against Netherlands at Paarl, India scored 204 runs before bowling out Netherlands for 136 runs to win by 68 runs. India's next match was a loss against Australia at Supersport Park in Centurion. Batting first, India were all out for 125 runs and Australia chased the target in 22.2 overs, losing only one wicket. In the third match in the group stage, India won against co-hosts Zimbabwe by 83 runs at Harare. India scored 255 runs with Tendulkar top scoring with 81 runs and later bowled out Zimbabwe for 172 with Ganguly taking three wickets. This was followed by a 181 run victory over Namibia at Pietermaritzburg. India scored 311 runs with centuries from Tendulkar (152) and Ganguly (112) and bowled out Namibia for 130 runs with Yuvraj Singh taking four wickets. India won the next group match against England by 82 runs at Kingsmead in Durban. In the Super Six stage, India won all the three matches and qualified for the semifinals. India beat Kenya at Newlands in Cape Town by six wickets with Ganguly top scoring with 107 runs. In the second match, India beat Sri Lanka at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg by 183 runs with Tendulkar top scoring with 97 runs and Srinath taking four wickets for India. India won the final match of the stage against New Zealand at Centurion by seven wickets. In the semifinals, India beat Kenya at Durban by 91 runs. Batting first, India scored 270 runs with Ganguly top scoring with 111 runs and then bowled out Kenya for 179 runs.

With this India reached the finals for the first time since 1983, and faced defending champions Australia for the title. The final was played on 23 March 2003 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg and India elected to field first after winning the toss.

2007 World Cup

India faced neighbors Bangladesh in the first match at Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain. Batting first, India were bowled out for 191 runs with only Ganguly crossing the half-century mark. Bangladesh chased the target with more than an over to spare and won by five wickets. In the second match at the same venue, India faced Bermuda. Batting first, India scored 413 runs, then highest team total in World Cups. Sehwag top scored for India with a century and three other Indian batters crossed the half-century mark. In response, Bermuda was bowled out for 156 runs and won by 257 runs, then highest margin of victory in World Cups. In the must win last match of the group stage, India lost by 69 runs to Sri Lanka.

2011 World Cup: South Africa Triumphs Again

The 2011 Cricket World Cup was co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. There were 14 teams that participated in the 2011 World Cup and the format reverted to the one used in the 1996 edition. Despite getting the better of the Indians in two World Cups, it was India who started as the favorites in this contest because they hadn't lost a game yet in the 2011 edition and moreover, had their home crowd behind them.

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On a flat Jamta wicket in Nagpur, MS Dhoni, after winning the toss, chose to bat and brought in the third pacer in Munaf Patel, leaving out Piyush Chawla. While South Africa had a forced change in Johan Botha in place of Imran Tahir. So the stage was set for a cracker of a game and Sehwag being Sehwag continued his merry way of getting off the mark with a boundary. India’s top three of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir were in sensational form, scoring 253 of their side’s 296 runs.

It was imperative for the Proteas to get off to a good start and Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers, all smashed fifties - driving their team into the ascendancy before Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel pegged back South Africa. A fortuitous inside edge saw Peterson earning a boundary off the first ball and he followed it up by smoking a six over deep mid-wicket to take South Africa closer, and sealed it eventually by creaming a four through cover. South Africa made it a hat-trick of World Cup wins over India in a thriller in Nagpur back in 2011. Thus, This helped South Africa take a 3-0 lead over the Indians in the World Cup. It was also India's first loss of the 2011 tournament.

2015 World Cup: India Breaks the Jinx

Shikhar Dhawan was the star of the show in 2015 as India broke their World Cup duck against South Africa at the fourth time of asking. It was one of the most anticipated clashes of the World Cup. Two high profile teams battling it out at the MCG and evidently, it was a packed crowd.

The Indian opener hit 16 fours and two sixes on his way to 137 from 146 balls - celebrating with his signature arms-outstretched pose when he reached his century. Dhawan was supported by Virat Kohli (46) and Ajinkya Rahane (79 from 60 balls), as India finished their 50 overs on 307/7. Despite a half-century from Faf du Plessis, India romped to a comprehensive victory, with Ravichandran Ashwin taking three wickets and Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma grabbing a brace apiece, as they claimed a 130-run victory in Melbourne - their third-biggest ODI win over South Africa.

2019 World Cup

South Africa had lost their first two matches of the competition. For India, on the other hand, this was the first match of their campaign and the Rose Bowl at Southampton was the battleground. Coming on the back of two successive run-chase failures, the Proteas opted to bat on a greenish surface and got off to an inauspicious start.

Rabada breathed fire with the new ball. He should have bounced out Rohit Sharma on 1 but Faf fluffed the chance at second slip, which in hindsight turned out to be very costly. There weren't too many freebies on offer and India took 15 overs to reach their fifty. De Kock pulled off a stunning one-handed catch to remove Virat Kohli. Rohit remained calm and forged a couple of steady half-century partnerships with KL Rahul and MS Dhoni. In the process, Rohit recorded his slowest ODI ton off 127 balls albeit a responsible knock. While the Indian spinners accounted for five wickets, their counterparts couldn't pick a single wicket. Rohit remained unbeaten till the end to take his team home with 15 balls to spare.

India vs South Africa World Cup Head to Head Record

Here is a summary of the head-to-head record between India and South Africa in the Cricket World Cup:

World Cup Edition	Winner	Margin
1992	South Africa	6 wickets
1999	South Africa	4 wickets
2011	South Africa	3 wickets
2015	India	130 runs

South Africa and India will meet again at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England and Wales.

Statistical Highlights

Leading Run Scorer (India): Sachin Tendulkar is the leading run scorer for India with 2278 runs and holds the record for the most runs across World Cups.
Leading Wicket Taker (India): Mohammed Shami is the leading wicket taking bowler for India with 55 wickets.
Most Runs in a Single Edition: Virat Kohli holds the record for the most runs scored in a single edition of the World Cup with 765 runs in the 2023 World Cup.