(Reuters) – India’s surprising victory over South Africa in the first One-Day International on Sunday was largely attributed to the unexpected support the Wanderers pitch provided to their seamers, instead of the spinners as anticipated by India’s captain KL Rahul.
India bowled out South Africa for 116, setting a record low score for the hosts on home soil, and then chased down the runs with 200 balls to spare. The tourists also won the final Twenty20 International on the same wicket on Thursday, and Rahul expressed his belief that the game would favor his spinners.
However, India’s seamers Arshdeep Singh (5-37) and Avesh Khan (4-27) stole the show by achieving career-best figures on the pitch that was expected to be favorable for spinners. “It was completely different to what we expected,” Rahul said at the post-match presentation. “We had planned to bring the spinners into the game early after what we saw in the T20 match.”
“It is my first ODI win here (South Africa) as a captain. When I was here last time (January 2022) we lost all three, so it is good to get that victory under your belt,” he added. Both teams rested players ahead of a two-match Test series starting on Dec. 26, with several new faces in the Indian team, including debutant opening batter Sai Sudharsan, who impressed with an unbeaten 55 from 43 balls.
“There is a lot of cricket being played these days. You have to prioritise formats and at the moment it is Test cricket and T20s a little bit,” Rahul said. “That is the modern-day game, but we believe whoever is here will perform for their country.” South Africa struggled throughout the game, and captain Aiden Markram acknowledged the credit to India’s bowling attack and admitted that they couldn’t settle and build partnerships from the start.
“We expected it to go around (seam) a little bit. Generally in the day games it does do something for five to seven overs. But today it went on for longer and we couldn’t get in,” Markram said. South Africa will need to regroup ahead of the second match in the three-game series in Gqeberha on Tuesday. (Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
