A 204-run stand between centurions Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen helped put South Africa out of reach of India in the opening ODI as new skipper KL Rahul suffers first-up defeat
Match Report:
ScorecardBavuma, van der Dussen tons hand India ODI defeat
Captain Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen each scored a century and shared a partnership of 204 as hosts South Africa beat India by 31 runs in the first one-day international.
The home side elected to bat on Wednesday and posted 4-296 in their 50 overs, with Bavuma's 110 from 143 balls the anchor to go with an unbeaten 129 off 96 from Van der Dussen, who scored his maiden ODI ton.
"We played close to the perfect game. We can take a lot of confidence from what we did out there," Bavuma said.
"The partnership (with van der Dussen) was probably the decider."
India started well as opener Shikhar Dhawan scored 79 from 84 balls and former captain Virat Kohli 51 from 63, but when they were dismissed, India struggled to keep up with the required run-rate and finished on 8-265.
Shardul Thakur provided lone resistance with an unbeaten 50 from 43 balls, but many of the Indian batsmen struggled for fluency on the slow wicket.
"It was a nice game actually. There was so much to learn," new India captain KL Rahul said at the post-match presentation.
"We started off well but couldn't get wickets in the middle (of the innings).
"And then when we batted, our middle order couldn't get going. I thought we would chase it down quite easily but the South Africans came back well."
Andile Phehlukwayo (2-26) was the pick of the home attack and claimed the key wicket of Rishabh Pant (16), but Tabraiz Shamsi (2-52) and Lungi Ngidi (2-64) also played their part.
South Africa's innings was shaped by Bavuma, who was patient from the start after the home side were in trouble at 3-68 in the 18th over.
His stunning double-century partnership from 183 balls with Van der Dussen, who was the aggressor with nine fours and four sixes, laid the platform for their score.
They were particularly impressive in negating the Indian spinners, with seamer Jasprit Bumrah (2-48) the pick of the tourists' attack.
The second match in the series will be played at the same venue on Friday, with the third and final one in Cape Town on Sunday.