PAARL, Jan 19: Riding on fantastic centuries by Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen along with some fine bowling efforts, South Africa beat India by 31 runs in the first ODI to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series at Boland Park, here on Wednesday.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, South Africa were in a spot of bother at 68-3 but fighting centuries by Bavuma (110 off 143) and Van der Dussen (129 not out off 96) helped South Africa post a challenging 296/4 in 50 overs.
Chasing a competitive target at the sluggish Paarl pitch, openers Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul gave India a good start. Dhawan, in particular, was the more aggressive of the two and he dealt in boundaries and took India to 24/0 after 5 overs.
Things were going good for India until Aiden Markram took the key wicket of KL Rahul (12) in the ninth over. Rahul was playing for the turn there but the ball went straight and took a faint edge, with Quinton de Kock taking a regulation catch.
Virat Kohli then walked out in the middle and got off the mark with a boundary. On the other hand, Dhawan, who looked in great touch and got to his 34th ODI fifty off 51 deliveries. The duo rotated strikes well and hit occasional boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking and India were 104 for 1 in 20 overs and looking to push on with the asking rate pretty much in control.
Dhawan's (79 off 84) wicket in the 25th over - bowled by Keshav Maharaj - allowed South Africa to storm back in the contest. Kohli hit his half-century off 60 balls but lasted just three more deliveries post that.
From there on, India needed another rebuilding phase but Shreyas Iyer (17), Rishabh Pant (16) and Venkatesh Iyer (2) were dismissed in a space of 18 deliveries as visitors went from 138 for 1 to 188 for 6. The quick wickets were enough to ensure a smooth win for the hosts but Shardul Thakur played a late cameo (50 not out off 43) as wickets kept on tumbling from the other end.
Thakur took Lungi Ngidi to the cleaners in the 47th over as he hit pacer for two boundaries and one six. He stitched a 50-plus stand for the ninth wicket with Jasprit Bumrah to lower the margin of defeat as India were restricted to 265-8 in 50 overs in the series opener.
Brief scores: South Africa 296-4 in 50 overs (Rassie van der Dussen 129, Temba Bavuma 110; Jasprit Bumrah 2/48, R Ashwin 1/53) beat India 265-8 in 50 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 79, Virat Kohli 51; Andile Phehlukwayo (2/26), Tabraiz Shamsi (2/52) by 31 runs.
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