Durban: Breaking records has more or less been a regular job for Virat Kohli and his Indian team as they broke some and wrote some in India’s thumping six-wicket win over hosts South Africa in the first of the six-match ODI series at the Kingsmead Stadium on Thursday.
This was India’s maiden win at the venue since 1992 and now, they also hold the number one spot in ICC ODI rankings besides being number one in Tests and third in T20Is.
Skipper Kohli once again was the star for India in a run-chase, which was made easy courtesy a massive 189-run stand with Ajinkya Rahane, which is India’s best in ODIs against South Africa. The previous best was 158 by Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, back in 2007.
Chasing 270, Kohli (112) helped his way to his first ODI ton in South Africa, and a fifth consecutive fifty-plus score came from Rahane (79) as the visitors toyed with the South African bowling unit, which clearly lacked the sting.
Rohit Sharma, who is known to he a specialist in the format couldn’t make any major impact as he was sent back early by Morne Morkel, after he tried to send a ball out of the ground and instead top-edged it. His partner Shikhar Dhawan was the next one to fall after a misjudgement with Kohli as India, in no time were reduced to 67/2.
But the Kohli-Rahane stand ensured that the 2011 World Cup champions did not lose their way as India gained a 1-0 lead in the series with 27 balls remaining. Kohli with 33 ODI hundreds now has the most number of ODI tons after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar (49).
Earlier, the Indian wrist spinner duo of Yuzvendra Chahal (2/45) and Kuldeep Yadav (3/34) wreaked havoc with the ball, grabbing five wickets between them to detail the South African batting and restrict them to only 269/8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah also took one wicket each.
With Kuldeep and Chahal dominating proceedings for India in the first innings, it was Proteas skipper Faf Du Plessis, who put up a brave fight with 120 runs of 112 balls. South Africa could have ended up with something below par on the board had it not been for Faf, who notched up his ninth ODI hundred and led from the front where all the batsmen of his team failed to produce anything substantial.
Brief scores-
India 270/4 in 45.3 overs (Virat Kohli 112, Ajinkya Rahane 79; Andile Phehlukwayo 2/42) beat South Africa 269/8 (Faf Du Plessis 120, Chris Morris 37; Kuldeep Yadav 3/34) by 6 wickets.