India routs South Africa with dominant all-round display

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JOHANNESBURG, Dec 17 (AP): Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh picked up his maiden five-wicket haul as India beat South Africa by eight wickets in the first ODI on Sunday.
Singh recorded 5-37 in 10 overs, and shared nine wickets with Avesh Khan, who took 4-27 in eight overs, as the Proteas were bowled out for a paltry 116 in 27.3 overs.

In replay, India coasted to 117-2 in 16.4 overs with debutant opener Sai Sudharsan scoring an unbeaten maiden half-century.
The victory gives India a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Gqeberha will host the second ODI on Tuesday, while the third will be played in Paarl on Thursday.

Opting to bat first, South Africa’s batting line-up duly collapsed. Singh bowled Reeza Hendricks for an eight-ball duck, and then trapped Rassie van der Dussen lbw for a golden duck.
From 3-2 in the second over, opener Tony de Zorzi resisted and attacked the bowling. He scored 28 off 22 balls, with two fours and two sixes, before a mishit pull was caught behind.

It was one-way traffic after that, with Singh and Khan finding a lot of movement.
Skipper Aiden Markram played on off Avesh Khan for 12 runs. Heinrich Klaasen was out similarly off Singh for six.
Khan ran through the middle order, with David Miller caught behind for two. He then trapped Wiaan Mulder lbw for a golden duck.

There was no escape for South Africa as it went from 42-2 to 58-7 in the space of 32 deliveries.
Both pacers searched for their fifth wickets, but only Singh managed to get to the landmark. He picked up Andile Phehlukwayo lbw, after he top scored with 33 off 49 balls.
His runs allowed South Africa to cross the 100-run mark and avoid complete embarrassment.
Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav bowled Nandre Burger for seven, thus denying Khan a chance at his milestone.

In reply, India started poorly as Mulder trapped Ruturaj Gaikwad lbw for five runs.
While there was movement on offer, it wasn’t as exaggerated as it had been in the first innings and allowed the Indian batters to settle down.
Shreyas Iyer, playing his first game on tour, counter-attacked and scored 52 off 45 balls. He hit six fours and a six.

In doing so, he put on 88 off 73 balls with Sudharsan holding anchor at one end. He hit nine fours and reached his maiden half-century off 41 balls.
Sudharsan became the fourth Indian opener – and the 17th batter overall – to score 50-plus on his ODI debut.

It was India’s fourth biggest win in terms of balls remaining with 200.
South Africa had won the toss and opted to bat, with its primary pacers rested. Markram is again in charge of South Africa with Temba Bavuma only returning for the two-test series beginning on Dec. 26.
Lokesh Rahul is leading India in the absence of skipper Rohit Sharma. Star India batter Virat Kohli is also unavailable for this series.

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