A scintillating performance powered invincible India to beat dazed South Africa by a frightening margin of 243 runs. Chasing a big target of 327 on a challenging pitch, South African batters struggled to score runs freely and lost wickets cheaply as they failed to read the pitch conditions well. Ravindra Jadeja’s fifer helped India to bowl out the Proteas for just 83. Earlier, Indian star batter Virat Kohli amazed everyone by hitting his 49th ODI ton, equaling legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most ODI tons.

Batting first, India’s captain Rohit Sharma gave his side a superb start by playing attacking shots right from the start. But the Proteas’ captain Temba Bavuma took a brilliant catch to dismiss Rohit for 40. Shubman Gill walked back after scoring a fine 23. The pitch assisted the bowlers well and it became tough to score runs freely as the ball got older. However, Kohli and Shreyas Iyer batted beautifully to add 134 runs for the third wicket.

Lungi Ngidi produced the crucial breakthrough by dismissing Iyer, who played a brilliant knock of 77. Suryakumar Yadav chipped in with 22 while Jadeja played a fine cameo of 29. Kohli was India’s mainstay and held the hosts’ innings till the end with a fighting knock of unbeaten 101, helping to reach a formidable total of 326/5 in 50 overs.

South Africa’s chase did not start well as they lost the in-form Quinton de Kock (5) very early. Rohit’s plan of bowling Jadeja inside the powerplay made a big impact as the left-arm spinner cleaned up Bavuma for 11. Then came Mohammed Shami to remove Aiden Markram (9). Jadeja and Shami bowled brilliantly and ran through the Proteas’ batting order, picking up quick wickets. Kuldeep Yadav finished off things by cleaning up Ngidi for a duck.