Ind vs SA 1st ODI: Proteas Beat India By 31 Runs To Win Series Opener; Dussen, Bavuma Shine

The chase at Paarl seemed like a walk in the park for the visitors until South African bowlers removed Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan to put their opponents in a spot of bother.

South Africa's Temba Bavuma & Rassie van der Dussen, Pic Courtesy: @OfficialCSA / Twitter

New Delhi: South Africa rode on brilliant tons from Rassie van der Dussen (129*) and Temba Bavuma (110) and a clinical performance from bowlers to beat KL Rahul-led India by 32 runs in the Ind vs SA 1st ODI at the Boland Park in Paarl.

Chasing 297 for the win, the Indian cricket team started off brilliantly with KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan chipping in with some quick runs. The chase at Paarl seemed like a walk in the park for the visitors until South African bowlers removed Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan to put their opponents in a spot of bother.

The worst was yet to come for team India as they were left crumbling after losing Rishabh Pant, Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer in quick succession. India tried very hard but never recovered after losing Dhawan (79) and Virat Kohli (51). All-rounder Shardul Thakur staged a strong fightback by scoring a hard-fought maiden ODI fifty but it was not enough to get a win for his team.  

After opting to bat first post winning the toss, Rassie van der (129*) and Temba Bavuma (110) stitched a solid 204 run stand for the fourth wicket to power the Proteas to mammoth 296/4 against India. The record-breaking partnership between Rassie and Bavuma is the 2nd highest by a South African batting pair in 50-overs format.

RSA playing XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi

IND playing XI: KL Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal