RSA VS IND - 1st ODI, India tour of South Africa, 2017-18

So, Kohli's first ton in ODIs against South Africa in South Africa has paved the way for a comfortable win for the Indians. Both the skippers got tons but Faf never had the Man Friday that Kohli had in the form of Rahane. He looked in complete control and sailed through for most of his 79 runs playing seamers and spinners with astute footwork. India have broken South Africa's string of 17 wins in ODIs at home as well. The South African think tank will have to turn it around quickly. How quickly, we will figure out soon. Our rhetoric team of writers take a leave. I have been Kumar Abhisekh Das and have found immense pleasure in the company of MS Ramakrishnan, Akshay Maanay, Abhinand, Varun Dixit and our scorer Vinod.

Stats brought you by Deepu Narayanan

Both captains scoring 100s in the same ODI:
Porterfield - Morgan, 2013
Kohli - Rahim, Fatullah, 2014
Kohli - Mathews, Ranchi, 2014
Kohli - Du Plessis, Durban, 2018*

Highest stands for India vs SA in SA
193 Tendulkar - Ganguly, Joburg, 2001 (1st wicket)
189 KOHLI - RAHANE*, Durban, 2018 (3rd wicket)
117 Ganguly - Dravid, East London, 1997 (1st wicket)

Most 100s as ODI captains:
22 R Ponting
13 AB de Villiers
11 S Ganguly/ V KOHLI
10 S Jayasuriya

Highest third wicket stand for India vs SA:
189 KOHLI - RAHANE*, Durban, 2018
158 Tendulkar - Dravid, Belfast, 2007
125 Dhawan - Rahane, MCG, 2015

- Rahane's last five ODI innings: 55, 70, 53, 61, 79. His last five innings at #4: 45, 87, 89, 50, 79.

Rakhee: Kohli, an ultimate chase master giving it back to the Proteas in their den (breaking their home winning streak in ODIs).

devakrishna: What would be going through Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey's mind? Will they be happy for anchoring role of Rahane which took India home or will they be bothered about their no.4 spot? -- For now, they will celebrate a fine win.

Virat Kohli, Man of the Match: Yeah it was quite special. We wanted to take the confidence from Jo'Burg to here. We wanted one good partnership. Very very happy for Jinks as well. It is easier to break down the total when you have a number on the board. I like to understand the game. I had never scored an ODI hundred in South Africa. Thus, the celebration. It was my knee but my groin took the impact(talking about his injury when India were fielding). The outfield for me was quite dangerous. I am ok now. Bhuvi and Bumrah again, we bank on them. The two wrist spinners have been making the difference for us. Having two wrist spinners I mentioned in the press conference is a huge advantage. It augurs well for the team when you have two fearless youngsters. They set their own field as well. They will have to keep this going for the rest of the series. Jinks has a good technique and he took the confidence from the last game and never had doubts in his mind. He batted positively and I could solidify the situation from the other end. Hats off to him, he was outstanding.

Faf du Plessis: Went upstairs to get my finger checked. One day cricket, the intensity is a lot higher. We did not bat well enough. We were at least 50-60 short. The conditions were a little slower in the first innings. India with a strong batting line up batted really well. I tried everything. Field placements, different tactics but Virat and Rahane played really well.

An ODI win in South Africa after almost 7 years was actually set up by the spin twins. Chahal-Kuldeep pair bowled 20 overs, picked 5 wickets for a bargain of 79 runs. That choked the run rate and despite an amazing effort from the Proteas skipper, who also got a ton, South Africa in hindsight looked a lot light on the runs. In the absence of ABD and the poor form of QDK, resulted in a mini middle order collapse and India made enough inroads to disallow a huge South African score. The last 10 overs also went for only 69 runs. Hang on to listen to what Virat meant as he celebrated his ton with a few animated gestures towards the dressing room. Hopefully, he will spill the beans.

Ok then. Not many preconceived this result. India take a 1-0 lead and win in a canter with 27 balls to spare as well. The chief architect was the skipper himself with another sublime ton. His 33rd in ODIs. And India's latest 4, tried out previously though, Rahane threw his hat into the ring for being a contender for the spot by stroking a calculative 79. Even Dhawan's quickfire 35 served as the launchpad for India's riposte.

Rabada to Dhoni, FOUR, the flamingo pull! Dhoni signs off an Indian win for the umpteenth time. India win by 6 wickets and take a 1-0 lead. This is India's first win in an ODI at Durban against South Africa. That was a short ball and the batsman latched on to it to muscle the ball behind square for a four. And the clouds opened up as well

Rabada to Dhoni, no run, full toss, MS did not anticipate that and pushes the ball back to the bowler

Rabada to Hardik Pandya, 1 run, taps the ball into the off-side and steals a single

Phehlukwayo to Dhoni, no run, huge appeal! South Africa doen't have a review and MS survives. It looked though it was going down. Yes, HawkEye confirms. Dhoni has a smile on his face

Phehlukwayo to Hardik Pandya, 1 run, drives the ball down the ground to mid-off and they take a single

Phehlukwayo to Hardik Pandya, leg byes, 2 runs, the batsman misses the clip but the ball scales enough distance into the on-side for a couple to be taken quite easily

MS Dhoni, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Phehlukwayo to Kohli, out Caught by Rabada!! The short ball ploy does it for South Africa. A bit too late in the evening though. The entire stadium is up and applauding. That was another slower bouncer and the batsman tried not to keep it down. The top-edge was found and the man at fine leg takes it by running in. Kohli c Rabada b Phehlukwayo 112(119) [4s-10]

Phehlukwayo to Kohli, THATS OUT!! Caught!!