South Africa vs India 2018, 1st ODI: Hits and Misses

The Indian Cricket Team took a 1-0 lead in the six-match ODI series against South Africa after securing a 6-wicket victory in the first game of the same, which was hosted in Durban on Thursday (February 1). India’s triumph on the day ended South Africa's longstanding winning streak at Kingsmead, which had lasted for as many as 17 matches.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, South Africa put up a fighting total of 269 for the loss of 8 wickets at the end of 50 overs. India lost both their openers in quick succession and the chase started to seem tricky for the visitors at that point.

However, chase-master Virat Kohli stepped up once again to score his 33rd ODI century and took the game by the scruff of its neck to take his team past the finishing line.

Here are the success and failure stories from the game:

#5 Hit: Virat Kohli

Where there’s a chase, there’s Virat Kohli. Where’s there’s Virat Kohli, there’s purpose.

The Indian skipper added to his limited over greatness yet again with the terrific hundred that he scored in Durban yesterday. His innings was pivotal to the chase and paved the way for a brilliant Indian victory.

The Indian skipper looked in control from the second he stepped onto the field and stitched a tremendous partnership with Ajinkya Rahane for the third wicket. The pair batted for more than 30 overs and scored as many as 189 runs between them.

Kohli walked into the middle in the 7th over of the game after Rohit Sharma threw away a good start and returned to the pavilion with just 20 runs to his name. Kohli took guard with the scoreboard reading 33 for the loss of one wicket. He batted with poise and persistence right from that second and scored 112 runs off 119 deliveries before being dismissed by Andile Phehlukwayo in the 45th over of the innings.

However, the match had already been won till then. Kohli had done it again. The 29-year-old now has an ODI century in every nation that he has played in. He has tied with Sourav Ganguly for the maximum number of one-day centuries scored by an Indian captain. The point that must be asserted here is that Kohli reached the milestone in just 41 innings, as opposed to Ganguly’s 142.

If this doesn’t point towards Kohli’s mastery, what does?

#4 Miss: Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma's South African woes continue

11, 9, 23, 1, 5, 18, 19, and 20: this is the list of the Indian opener’s ODI innings in South Africa.

The right-handed batsman has just 106 runs in 50-over cricket in the country so far, and he has scored them at a dismal average of 13.25.

These are not the numbers that you associate with Sharma in limited overs cricket. He is among the best opening batsmen in the shorter format of the game in the world right now. These numbers just do not match up to his level and are extremely disappointing by his standards.

Sharma got a decent start in Durban and it looked like the curse would finally be lifted. He had already hit two boundaries and played his trademark pull shot to hit a tremendous six over square leg in his innings of 20 off 30 deliveries.

However, the Mumbai Indians skipper played a shocking shot against Morne Morkel soon thereafter and was dismissed before he could stamp his authority on the chase. He still has five more opportunities to shine in this series and will surely look to capitalize on them as much as possible.

#3 Hit: Faf du Plessis

The South African skipper led from the front

The skippers from both the sides scored centuries on the day and both did it in style. Du Plessis was the anchor of the South African batting effort in the first innings of the game. It was his innings that powered them to a respectable and fairly defendable total.

He came in to bat quite early in the innings and saw wickets fall at the other end at regular intervals. Yet, he kept his cool and stitched a tremendous knock of 120 runs off just 112 deliveries. It included two mind-numbing sixes over long-on that he hit off the Indian seam bowlers in the death overs of the innings.

He was up for the challenge from the word go and looked fairly comfortable in the middle. The right-handed batsmen led from the front and gave his team a real chance of pocketing the match when he propelled them to an above-average total with the ninth ODI century of his career.

#2 Miss: South African opening pair

Amla and De Kock failed to capitalize on a fairly decent start

When Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bat first, he was certainly expecting a strong performance from at least one of his regular openers, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla. However, in spite of getting considerable starts, both could not convert their scores into anything significant.

Amla, with his 16 off 17 deliveries, was the first batsman to be dismissed on the day. He was caught LBW by a swift in-swinger from Jasprit Bumrah. De Kock survived a little longer and made 34 off 40 deliveries before he was sent back to the dressing room by an enthusiastic Yuzvendra Chahal.

If South Africa wish to press their home advantage later in the series, it is imperative that their opening pair performs well in the remainder of the series. De Kock, in particular, needs to step up to the task as soon as possible, considering he is coming off the back of a very forgettable Test series against the same opposition.

#1 Hit: Indian leg-spinning duo

Both Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav hit the ground running in the first ODI

The spin-bowling duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav has truly made a terrific statement for themselves in India’s limited-overs squad since the last four to five months. Both the wrist-spinners have bowled well consistently and have managed to take the place of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the playing XI, for now at least.

They bowled in tandem on Thursday and their combined effort was the main reason behind the failure of the South African batting order to score big on the day. In the 20 overs that they bowled, they picked up five wickets between them and gave away just 79 runs while doing so.

While Chahal dismissed De Kock and Aiden Markram with his intelligent bowling, Yadav scalped the wickets of the entire South African lower middle-order. The hard-hitting trio JP Duminy, David Miller and Chris Morris were sent back to the hut by India’s Chinaman bowler.

Both the spinners bowled exceedingly well and their exertion proved to be crucial in restricting the hosts to a target less than 280.