Johannesburg: India bowlers led by Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan, besides fifties of Shreyas Iyer and Sai Sudarshan saw the visitors hammer South Africa by 8 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the first of the three match ODI series at the Wanderers here on Sunday.
Arshdeep Singh hauled a five-fer and Avesh bagged four to knock down the Proteas inside 28 overs for 116 runs.
Arshdeep could have had his very first wicket of Reeza Hendricks after the replays showed he was trapped leg-before and India captain KL Rahul did not opt for the review. But, the Proteas opener did not stick around and departed soon after for a duck.
Rassie van der Dussen was trapped plumb in front for a golden duck, putting South Africa in deep trouble. From thereon, India were on the top despite the counterattack unleashed by Tammy de Zorzi, especially against Mukesh Kumar.
De Zorzi succumbed after pulling one over the ropes for a six off Arshdeep, but in the same over the "Sardar" had the last laugh by enticing him to go for the same shot and was holed out behind the stumps on a miscued shot for 28.
Soon, South Africa were struggling 52/3 when Arshdeep picked his fourth victim in the form of Heinrich Klaasen who misread a bit of inward movement to see his stumps shattered.
All of a sudden, the Proteas lost three wickets on the same score as Avesh got into the act with a double wicket over to dismiss Aiden Markram and Wiaan Mulder.
Avesh added another wicket of David Miller, shattering the meek hopes of bouncing back in the match. Andile Phehlukwayo scored a gutsy innings of 33 with his partners departing at the other end, but it helped the hosts to cross the three-figure mark.
Then, Arshdeep ran in and folded South Africa's innings with figures of 5/37.
Chasing a tiny target, debutant Sudarshan was a class apart, showcasing the classic era batsmanship spiced up with grace and lazy elegance after India lost Ruturaj Gaikwad early as he was trapped leg-before by Mulder.
South Africa sought wickets in hopes of scripting a turnaround, but Iyer opened up with the word go, smashing his first ball for a boundary.
It was a matter of time before India clinched the game as India had knocked off 61 runs in the powerplay with an array of boundaries.
Sudharsan hammered successive boundaries off Tabraiz Shamsi, and reached his first fifty on debut, becoming the 17th Indian to do so.
In an attempt to finish the game in a jiffy, Shreyas went after Phehlukwayo and gathered 10 runs in two balls to bring up another ODI fifty before walking back to the dugout. But India crossed the mark and trounced South Africa in the very next over.
Brief scores: South Africa 116 in 27.3 overs (Andile Phehlukwayo 33; Arshdeep Singh 5/37, Avesh Khan 4/27) lost toIndia117/2 in 16.4 overs (Sai Sudharsan 55*, Shreyas Iyer 52) by8 wickets. (UNI)
