South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis played a lone hand with a fighting century, taking his team to a respectable total of 269/8 in 50 overs, in the first ODI against India at the Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban, even as wickets fell around him.
Du Plessis scored a majestic 120 (112), which was studded with 11 fours and 2 sixes. Opener Quinton de Kock (34), Chris Morris (37) and Andile Phehlukwayo (27) got starts but were unable to convert them into big scores.
The Proteas won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that is expected to slow down as the match progresses. For India, limited-overs specialists Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan returned to the playing XI, along with Ajinkya Rahane at No. 4. With swashbuckling batsman AB de Villiers out of the first three ODIs with a finger injury, the South Africans brought in Aiden Markram.
India's gamble of playing two spinners paid off as Kuldeep Yadav (3/34) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/45) not only put the brakes on the scoring rate, but also took wickets at regular intervals. Pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, who took a wicket apiece, bowled their hearts out but did not get much assistance from the pitch.
Du Plessis and de Kock put on 53 runs for the second wicket, after opener Hashim Amla (16) was dismissed by Bumrah in the eighth over. However, the dismissal of de Kock in the 15th over brought about a mini collapse, as South Africa went from 83/2 to 134/5 by the 28th over.
The South Africa skipper found an able ally in Morris, with whom he stitched a 74-run partnership, before the latter was clean bowled by Yadav with the scoreboard reading 208 in the 41st over. But Phehlukwayo continued the good work, supporting his skipper with a 56-run partnership, enabling the Proteas to 25-run mark.
