South Africa vs India 2018, 2nd ODI: Things which went right for the visitors

#4 Absence of AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis

South Africa were dealt a 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 in the first ODI, where none of their batsmen except skipper Faf du Plessis (120) managed to show any resistance against India's menacing wrist-spinners.

Just ahead of the second ODI, Du Plessis was also ruled out of the series due to an injury and 23-year-old Aiden Markram was made the stand-in skipper for the hosts.

But, Markram's international leadership debut on his home ground quickly turned into a nightmare as South Africa suffered a massive batting collapse and were bowled out for 118 in 32.2 overs.

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.

Du Plessis, who is one of the most experienced players South African line-up, was in good touch in the 1st ODI as he scored 120 help his team post a respectable total of 269 in Durban and was thoroughly missed as the hosts surrendered meekly.