SYDNEY: India and Pakistan clashed Sunday in a World Cup blockbuster being followed by an estimated global audience of 1.5 billion people while South Africa staged a record-breaking recovery against Zimbabwe.

Tickets for the match between defending champions India and 1992 winners Pakistan at the 47,000-capacity Adelaide Oval sold out inside just 20 minutes in a powerful testament to the pulling power of one of the sport’s highest-profile fixtures.

India went into the game having won all of their five World Cup meetings against their neighbors and Pakistan’s build-up had been characteristically chaotic.

They were without the world’s top-ranked bowler Saeed Ajmal while injury ruled out key seamers Umar Gul and Junaid Khan as well as batsman Mohammed Hafeez.

Then, for good measure, star all-rounder Shahid Afridi was one of eight of the 15-man squad to be fined for breaking a team curfew and threatened with expulsion if there was a repeat offense.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat.

Veteran Younes Khan was chosen to open the batting for Pakistan in place of the dropped Nasir Jamshed while Umar Akmal was picked to keep wicket.

India went in with two spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, with a three-man seam attack for company led by Mohammad Shami.

“This is a chance to create history,” said Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq ahead of a game being played in temperatures nudging 40 degrees.

India have endured a miserable three months on tour in Australia where they were beaten 2-0 in the Tests and did not win a match in the subsequent tri-series.

But Dhoni said Sunday’s high-voltage clash, which he described as a “prized game” on the cricket calendar, was an opportunity for players to transform themselves from zeroes to heroes.

“There is of course more intensity when we play Pakistan because the game is followed by so many fans,” the India skipper said. “But I see it as a good platform for the team to perform.”

The current India squad has just four players — Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ashwin and Dhoni himself — who were involved in the winning World Cup combination four years ago.

“If there is anything bigger in cricket than a World Cup match between India and Pakistan, please let me know,” Rahil Seth, a 45-year-old Indian businessman from Melbourne, told AFP as he made his way to the ground.

Arif Hassan of Pakistan was equally confident his team would end the string of five successive defeats.

“History will be made today,” Hassan said.

Meanwhile, traditional under-achievers South Africa got off to a disastrous start against Zimbabwe at Seddon Park in Hamilton before David Miller and JP Duminy staged a breathtaking rescue act.

From a precarious 83 for four, South Africa raced to a huge 339 for four with Miller smashing 138 for a debut World Cup century while Duminy scored 115 during the pair’s unbroken stand of 256 — a new fifth-wicket record in all one-day internationals.

The Proteas lost Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and skipper AB de Villiers cheaply as their unheralded African neighbors threatened an upset.

But Miller, with seven fours and a World Cup record nine sixes, and Duminy, who hit nine boundaries and three sixes, took the game away from Zimbabwe in a stand which shattered the previous fifth-wicket best of 226 between England’s Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara against Ireland in Dublin in 2013.

“I really enjoyed that, it’s been a long time since I last got three figures,” said Duminy whose side had been put into bat.

“The pitch was definitely slower than we all predicted initially, but with wickets in hand, we could go after them.”

Miller helped himself to 30 runs off the 48th over bowled by paceman Solomon Mire through three sixes and three fours.

“David was exceptional — he just muscled it about all over the park,” said Duminy.

Co-hosts Australia and New Zealand already have opening wins under their belts.

On Saturday, four-time champions Australia defeated England by 111 runs in front of almost 85,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after New Zealand had comfortably seen off Sri Lanka by 98 runs in Christchurch.