The favourites came through a truly testing opening match on Saturday with flying colours. Not that the South Africans had nearly so many flying colours as their opponents. Hove on the cloudy, cool and breezy South Coast of England, became for a day more like Bombay minus the sunshine and humidity; a sea of green, white and orange. The spectacle and the atmosphere were all provided by the joyous Indian spectators; but, in the end, the formidable all-round efficiency of South Africa prevailed on the field.

It was a close, tense, often exciting match that came close to a classical one-day climax. The sheer class and calm authority of Jacques Kallis, at 23 probably already the best all-round cricketer in the world, saw his side home and they will be all the stronger for having faced a tough test in their very first match and come through it so well. A World Cup is a little like the All England Championships: the top seeds need to be stretched by determined opponents early in their campaign. It fortifies their self-belief.

According to Tony Pigott, the Sussex chief executive, 7,200 people were squeezed into the sloping ground where Ranji and Fry would enthral in the Golden Age. It was a stately ground then; it is a slightly dilapidated one now, which is why carnival days such as this are going to be so important for the less well-endowed county clubs. I have never seen so many people watching from the flats on the Eaton and Cromwell roads and tickets were being sold by touts for Pounds 400 outside The Sussex Cricketer before the start.

Azharuddin, bravely in view of the overcast sky, chose to bat first, correctly reading the look of a typical slow, true Hove pitch. There was a suspicion of uneven bounce early on and some movement off the seam and events proved that South Africa were handed a small advantage by the India captain's decision, because, on a good pitch for batting, it is always a help to know at what rate the innings must be paced. Nevertheless, there was a time during the second-wicket partnership between Ganguly and Dravid, which occupied 26 of India's 50 overs, when it looked as though the target might become too distant for the South Africans to chase with any confidence - and at 22 for two in the seventh over, the actual goal of 254 was starting to look distant enough.

Allan Donald and Jonty Rhodes supplied the key performances in the India innings; Kallis and Rhodes the innings that ensured victory by four wickets with 22 balls in hand. It was easier in the end than it looked as though it might be, when India's least-known quick bowler, the supple and slightly built Ajit Agarkar, had Hansie Cronje well caught at mid-wicket from a fierce front-foot pull in the 39th over, with 74 still needed. Rhodes came out and pressed for runs from every ball, running both the Indians, and eventually Kallis himself, ragged. Klusener, even more confident, settled the issue with three muscular hits.

Cronje's earpiece was the talking point of the morning, at least for those with access to a television. The spectators on the ground would have to have been very observant to notice the small devices, like deaf-aids, attached to the ears of Cronje and Donald. Bob Woolmer's fertile mind had spotted the communication between coaches and players in other sports and used the earpieces to offer what he described as "options" to his two senior players. Talat Ali, the International Cricket Council (ICC) referee, told the players to take them out during the first drinks break and it is unlikely that the ICC will change its view that "the World Cup is not the event to experiment with new devices".

Captaincy has always been such a crucial element in cricket that I rather hope the practice remains an experiment. It is for coaches, if coaches there must be, to devise strategy; but the captains should be in charge of tactics.

At 133 for one after 30 overs, with Ganguly timing the ball sweetly and Dravid playing with much the same stately ease as Kallis did later, India should have scored the 280 runs that would have made for a really tense finish. After some pleasing strokes against the new ball, Tendulkar had departed in the sixteenth over, trying to steer Klusener behind cover without moving his feet. But the most significant over of the match was Donald's seventh, the first of two in his middle spell and the 41st of the innings.

His pace, length and line were all so demanding that India managed only a single. Dravid was bowled in the next over and Ganguly, perhaps with half a mind on a century in his hundredth one-day international, was run out when Rhodes made a brilliant stop at cover two overs later and threw to the bowler's end whilst still on his knees.

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