It all started in India. The new generation, which had the great side of 1970 to follow as the last time to represent South Africa, walked out onto Eden Gardens in 1991.

It was India who offered their hand to a nation not yet three years away from the end of apartheid. Since then, South Africa and India's cricket interests have more often then not been aligned with each other.

South Africa stepped in when the IPL was moved from India and hosted a successful tournament with little time to prepare. India recently toured the Republic, squaring the Test series and just losing the ODI series.

That parity was on display a couple of nights back, and could be one of the biggest moments in this long, meandering tournament.

South Africa for their part avenged the ghost of Chennai and managed to bowl out a batting line-up that looks to be one of the strongest at this tournament.

A total of 29 runs for nine wickets is catastrophic to a batting team's efforts but perhaps such a collapse shouldn't be surprising.

Sachin Tendulkar is highly respected, and not just for the fact that he has proved himself to be within touching distance of Don Bradman's greatness, maybe even equalling the Don.

Bradman's average will never be beaten and it is pointless to compare two eras of the game that have about as much in common as a bowl of porridge would to a piano.

But, with that being said, he has firmly distanced himself from his nearest contemporary on the batting front in the modern era, Brian Lara and via his record, owns every other meaningful record about from the Don's average and Lara's 400* and 501.

Having a man like Tendulkar at the top of the order immediately creates an imbalance, which might sound untrue since the Little Master is at the top of the order, and others of high standing following him.

In Virender Sehwag, India has a batsman that can compare to him but in his very unique way. Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni follow the openers.

With Tendulkar and Sehwag virtually handing them the ideal position to put the game beyond South Africa's reach, they blew their lines and spectacularly so. 

That is what I mean by creating an imbalance. With such star players, or in the commentary speak and a phrase that has already become a cliche "premier batsman," beginning the India innings, the middle order, with the exception of Dhoni, pale in comparison and suffer under the weight of expectation.

The Indian skipper himself is an interesting man to watch. While it appears he is moving the field a little here and there, he is scheming, thinking of a way to best exploit the situation for his team's advantage.

This selflessness is an important characteristic in a captain, which is perhaps why the wicket keeper told his players to not play for the crowd but for their country.

It has left a team wondering what they have, but before they were seen as the clear favourites. Yuvraj Singh doesn't appear to be safe under the high ball to paraphrase rugby, while Gambhir is neither here nor there.

He needed to continue pushing the tempo after Sehwag's dismissal, but instead and credit must go to South Africa. He took more than a run a ball to get to his 50.

In the circumstances, this loss of momentum left the middle order under-baked and lacking a driving force out in the middle to tap into.

Cricket is often about momentum, especially in a session or an innings for one day cricket. India had the momentum after the first 20 overs, but South Africa punctured it, and, like a tire, India deflated.

Without momentum for a batsman to tap into once he reaches the middle, it is that much harder to start an innings, since the best players can tap into the energy that is all around them, the atmosphere that the match itself creates.

India are wondering what happened, and doubting yourself is no way to win a World Cup. Australia might not have the best side at this tournament, but as four-time reigning champions, they don't doubt themselves for a second. 

Dhoni was asked why he went for Ashish Nehra instead of Harbhajan Singh, and while the Indian skipper admitted he maybe should've gone for Harbhajan, he didn't doubt himself when he made that choice.

India are going to need more of that assurance as this tournament goes on.

For South Africa, that doubt has now disappeared and they are now in very good shape heading into the quarterfinals. Their loss to England might have been a blessing in disguise.

Dale Steyn, a real predator of a bowler, could see that the deflation in India's run-rate was proving terminal and bowled exactly where he needed to.

Robin Peterson picked up three wickets, again proving the sizeable number of doubters back in South Africa that he is international material.

He did so with the bat, hitting the winning runs which will probably be one of the moments of his brief international career.

He has been involved with South Africa for many years, but this World Cup is the first time that Peterson isn't playing for his place, and it shows.

AB de Villiers is slowly morphing into South Africa's best batsman in the coming years, with Hashim Amla also another contender for the crown.

Jacques Kallis made a 50, albeit a slow one, which will assist South Africa's greatest cricket in getting up to speed with this cricket World Cup.

The middle order performed admirably, with Johan Botha and Faf du Plessis both playing important innings of muster.

The South African selectors have an interesting choice ahead of them. While Imran Tahir has taken wickets, his batting is where Botha looks a much better prospect.

He also bowled well when his colleagues were being hit across the park, anchoring the comeback.

South Africa now have a realistic chance of topping the table at the end of the group stages, since by the time you read this they will be on their way to beating Ireland.

They did beat England, but that was in part to the English falling asleep at the wheel.

Certain pundits seem to have forgotten about the importance of topping the table. If either the quarterfinal or semi-final are entirely rained out, whoever finished higher in their respective group will go through.

It rains in India, with the Australia-Sri Lanka game an example of that (and costing both of those sides an important test of their abilities leading into the knock outs).

It's still anyone's game, and with the West Indies set to play India and England, anything is possible.