South Africa vs India 2018, 1st ODI: Things which went right for the visitors

India chased down 270 in 45.3 overs, to beat South Africa by 6 wickets in the first ODI of the six-match series in Durban on Thursday.

Riding on Virat Kohli's 112 off 119 deliveries, India completed the highest successful chase against South Africa at Kingsmead in ODIs. The previous highest was 268 chased by Australia in 2002.

Virat Kohli & Co. also ended South Africa's 17-game winning streak at home as they went 1-0 up in the ODI series.

Interestingly, this was the first-ever ODI played in South Africa where both the teams' captains, Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, scored a century each.

The second ODI will be played on Sunday, February 4 at Centurion.

Now, let us have a look at the factors that led to India's win.

#5 Ajinkya Rahane at number 4

Ajinkya Rahane proved to be a solid reply to India's number 4 conundrum as he produced a scintillating knock of 79 off 86 balls as India chased down South Africa's target of 270 with 27 balls remaining.

Rahane, who had been struggling with his form in the longest format of the game, brought up his fifth ODI fifty on the trot to shut down his detractors and cement is place in India's batting line-up for the rest of the series.

India were in a spot of bother after losing openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma early, but, Rahane turned out to be an able partner for skipper Virat Kohli as they brought up a 189-run stand, the second highest by an Indian pair against in South Africa against South Africa in ODIs, to take the visitors in the touching distance of a comfortable win.

#4 Absence of AB de Villiers

South Africa were dealt a huge blow after their star batsman AB de Villiers was ruled out of the first three ODIs of the six-match series against India due to a finger injury.

The 33-year-old, who is still the nucleus of South Africa's batting order, was sorely missed by the hosts as none of their batsmen except skipper Faf du Plessis (120) managed to show any resistance against India's menacing wrist-spinners.

With 1295 runs in 29 ODIs, De Villiers, who was recently named in the ICC ODI Team of the Year 2017, boasts of a terrific record against India.

The former South Africa captain was also the differentiator between the two teams in the recently concluded three-match Test series, as he was the leading run-scorer with a tally of 211 in six innings.

#3 Taking wickets at regular intervals to slow down the scoring rate

Faf du Plessis won the toss and opted to bat first in Durban. Jasprit Bumrah trapped Hashim Amla in front of the wickets early before Quinton de Kock was sent packing by Yuzvendra Chahal.

Soon, South Africa were in trouble as they were reduced to 134/5 in the 28th over. India's pacers struggled and the hosts managed to double their score from the point where they had lost half their batting but the combination of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal kept pulling the things back by striking at regular intervals and not letting the batsmen score the runs freely.

Faf du Plessis' sublime hundred and Andile Phehlukwayo's late flourish dragged South Africa to 269 in 50 overs but, in the end, it proved to be an inadequate total against India's formidable batting line-up.

#2 Performance of the wrist spinners

Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal removed Quinton de Kock and opened the floodgates for a mini-collapse as the hosts were soon reduced to 134/5 in the 28th over.

On a spin-friendly track of Kingsmead, Kuldeep Yadav varied his pace and forced the batsmen to come down the track as he ended up picking three crucial wickets to dismantle South Africa.

The hosts, who were 99/2 after 20 overs, managed to score just 39 runs and lost 3 wickets in the next 10 overs courtesy of Indian wrist spinners' sublime form.

The rest of the Indian bowlers picked up only 2 wickets and conceded runs at 6.23 per over in 30 overs, while Yadav and Chahal picked up 5 wickets for 79 runs in their 20 overs.

#1 Kohli-Rahane partnership

Chasing 270 to win, India lost openers, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, early and the onus was on Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli to build an partnership and win the game for the touring party.

Rahane and Kohli brought up a stand of 189 runs, second highest by an Indian pair in South Africa against South Africa in ODIs, to orchestrate the visitors' fightback.

While Rahane scored 79 off 86, Kohli brought up his 33rd ODI ton to become the first player to score a century in each country that he has played in ODI cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya have also scored centuries in nine different countries in ODI cricket.

Kohli has now scored 11 centuries as a captain in ODIs - the joint-most by an Indian captain in ODIs along with Sourav Ganguly.