IND vs SA 1st ODI Highlights: Virat Kohli’s Century Lead India to 17-Run Win. India kicked off the three-match ODI series with a breathtaking 17-run victory against South Africa at the JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi. The home team—their batsmen’s dominating display and bowlers’ composed death overs led India by 1-0.
Kohli leads India to a massive total
The first innings belonged to India, and a classic century by Virat Kohli led the way; he gave a superb knock of 135 off 120 balls. His innings was the perfect combination of traditional timing and strength, and he had many elegant fours and sky-high sixes going around meanwhile. Rohit Sharma also contributed nicely with his fluent 57, thus setting a strong early stage for batting. Later on, KL Rahul added a precious 60 so that India could score a strong 349/8 in 50 overs.
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The South African batsmen’s chase was not on the right foot as they lost early wickets, but their middle and lower order took the fight back impressively. The partnerships in the second half of the innings kept the visitors close to the target and turned the contest into a nail-biter heading towards the last overs.
Kuldeep and Rana deliver under pressure
Nonetheless, India’s bowlers were up to the challenge when it was most critical. Kuldeep Yadav was the key figure in the bowling department, taking 4 wickets for 68 runs while breaking oppositions that had formed with the batsmen consistently; thus, he emerged as the player of the match. Harshit Rana was doing well too with three important wickets, keeping the other batsman under pressure from that end. In the last over, South Africa needed 18 runs to win, but India kept their cool and wrapped up the match by bowling out SA for 332 in 49.2 overs.
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The match was full of events that met all the expectations—a large score, a persistent chase, and a heart-stopping finish from a high-class ODI. With India gaining the early upper hand, now all the attention moves to the second ODI, as a response from South Africa is expected to level the series.