Kohli ton headlines India's jittery win

South Africa's lower order gave India a mighty scare in Ranchi on Sunday in the opening ODI before the hosts prevailed by 17 runs to take an early lead in the series. Virat Kohli's 52nd ODI ton headlined India's efforts with the bat that also saw Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul hit half-centuries. In pursuit of 350, South Africa's top three combined to score just 7 runs before Matthew Breetzke, Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch almost pulled off a heist.

India lost the toss once again and opted for an aggressive approach given the dew threat. Yashasvi Jaiswal started aggressively, hitting the first ball for a boundary and pulling Marco Jansen for a six before Nandre Burger dismissed him early.

Rohit Sharma received a reprieve when Tony de Zorzi dropped a catch, and he made good use of it as boundaries kept flowing. Kohli looked in great touch, hitting Burger and Ottneil Baartman for sixes as India raced to 80 in the powerplay. Rohit then swept Prenelan Subrayen for successive sixes as the duo continued their partnership.

They brought up another century stand and registered their respective fifties. Rohit also broke the record for most sixes in ODI cricket as India reached 153/1 after 20 overs. Against the run of play, Jansen trapped Rohit lbw and South Africa sensed an opportunity. Ruturaj Gaikwad fell to a good catch from Dewald Brevis and Washington Sundar didn't impress either.

The scoring rate dipped before Rahul joined Kohli to resurrect the innings. Kohli moved to his 83rd international century and then accelerated dramatically, smoking Subrayen for 20 runs in four balls. A mistimed shot ended his stay but Rahul then took charge at the death with a couple of sixes off Burger. Jadeja found timely boundaries as well, but Bosch bowled excellent death overs to restrict India to 349/8.

In South Africa's chase, Harshit Rana struck early with two wickets in his opening over, accounting for Ryan Rickelton and Quinton de Kock. Arshdeep Singh dismissed Aiden Markram as South Africa slumped to 11/3. But Matthew Breetzke and de Zorzi launched a counterattack with boundaries, forcing bowling changes.

Kuldeep Yadav struck in his first over to trap de Zorzi lbw. Breetzke continued aggressively, hitting a six and a four, while Brevis caused concern with a mini cameo including two sixes off Jadeja and a no-look six off Rana before mistiming a shot to give Rana his third wicket.

With half the side back in the pavilion inside 22 overs, the result appeared certain. Breetzke reached his half-century but it was Jansen who put India on the backfoot, racing to a stunning 26-ball half-century with two sixes off Prasidh Krishna and attacking Kuldeep. Kuldeep turned the game by dismissing both set batters in three balls, leaving South Africa needing 120 off 96 with three wickets remaining.

South Africa refused to give up. Bosch found boundaries in three consecutive overs and Subrayen nailed a slog sweep off Kuldeep. Even after Subrayen's dismissal, Bosch partnered with Burger to keep the chase alive. Bosch looked in sizzling touch, regularly finding boundaries and bringing up his maiden half-century. The equation came down to 38 off 18, then 18 off 6, before he mis-hit with five deliveries remaining as South Africa were bowled out for 332.

Brief scores: India 349/8 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 135, KL Rahul 60, Rohit Sharma 57; Ottneil Baartman 2/60) beat South Africa 332 in 49.2 overs (Matthew Breetzke 72, Marco Jansen 70, Corbin Bosch 67; Kuldeep Yadav 4/68) by 17 runs.