India defeated a determined South Africa by 17 runs thanks to a record-breaking 52nd one-day century from star batsman Virat Kohli in Sunday’s opening game in Ranchi.
Kohli’s 135 off 120 balls and his second-wicket partnership of 136 with fellow veteran Rohit Sharma put India on track for 349-8.
As South Africa battled till the very end, Corbin Bosch struck a heroic 67 off 51 balls. With one wicket remaining, the visitors needed 18 to win going into the 50th over. South Africa was 332 all out when Bosch fell on the second ball.
After South Africa fell to 11-3 and then 77-4, Matthew Breetzke, who scored 72, and Marco Jansen, who scored 70, put together a valiant partnership of 97 for the sixth wicket to resuscitate the chase.
In the high-scoring match, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav stood out with statistics of 4-68. India seized a 1-0 lead in the three-match series thanks to his double strike, which removed Jansen and Breetzke in three balls.
After raising his hundred with a boundary off Jansen and lifting his bat to a boisterous home crowd, the 37-year-old Kohli continued to be the hero with his 83rd century in the three international formats.
Before being hauled away, an Indian fan broke through security and hurried to the field to touch Kohli’s feet. The legendary Indian Sachin Tendulkar is second with 49 ODI hundreds, behind Kohli.
Kohli now stands alone atop the list for most hundreds in a single international format, surpassing Tendulkar’s 51 Test centuries.
Both Kohli and the 38-year-old Rohit Sharma — who scored 57 — now feature exclusively in ODIs, having retired from T20Is and Test cricket.
Following a 0-2 Test defeat against South Africa, their presence helped India, led by KL Rahul in the absence of the injured Shubman Gill.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed early for 18, but Kohli entered to a thunderous applause from a crowd of 38,000.
After stabilizing the innings, the two faced the bowlers till Jansen trapped Rohit leg before wicket. In his 51-ball knock, Rohit struck three sixes. With that, he surpassed Pakistani batsman Shahid Afridi’s record of 351 sixes in this format to reach 352.
Soon after hitting his first hundred since February, Kohli switched gears. In a 21-run 39th over, he struck off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen for two fours and two sixes. He struck 11 fours and 7 sixes before falling to Nandre Burger, caught by Ryan Rickelton.
While Ravindra Jadeja scored 32 off 20, Rahul continued the assault with 60 off 56 balls.
The next game takes place in Raipur on Wednesday.
