RANCHI: Despite it being a Ro-Ko show here on Super Sunday, South Africa continued to dish out spoiler alerts throughout their innings but stopped 17 runs short of a record chase at JSCA International Stadium.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Chasing an improbable 350 under lights, South Africa had a horrible start but recovered to remain in the game till the end. Finally, Corbin Bosch's valiant innings of 67 off 51 balls came to an end as he holed out to Rohit Sharma at cover, which gave India a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.
With Rohit scoring his last ODI century against Australia in Sydney on Oct 25 this year, Kohli continued his love affair with Ranchi to score his 52nd ton in the format here on Sunday. As the duo fired in unison, breaking multiple records on the day, India left behind the Test debacle suffered five days ago at the hands of the same opponents.
With Ro-Ko playing the major role with a 136-run stand for the second wicket, India amassed the highest total in Ranchi — 349/8 from 50 overs — and tried to bat South Africa out of the contest with heavy dew expected in the second innings. South Africa, full of confidence after their Test heroics, slumped to 11 for 3, but they took the game deep with some sensible batting in the middle and down the order. However, it proved to be a task beyond them as India held their nerve and their catches.
Earlier, a change in captaincy could not change India's luck with the coin as they lost their 19th straight toss in ODIs and were asked to bat first by South Africa skipper Aiden Markram. Temba Bavuma, their regular ODI skipper, was out due to a niggle.
As India lost opener Yashasvi Jaiswal cheaply following a brisk start, Ro-Ko sunk their teeth into the game and continued with the form they showed in Sydney in their 392nd international appearance together. This was the highest for an Indian pair, bettering the iconic Sachin Tendulkar-Rahul Dravid's 391 games together across formats.
The duo's 20th century stand in ODIs, behind only Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly's 26 100-run partnerships, is now joint second with the Tillakaratne Dilshan-Kumar Sangakkara pair.
Sharma-Kohli racked up their 100-run stand in 82 balls, with the former racing to a 43-ball half-century. Sharma departed scoring 57 off 51 balls with five fours and three sixes, becoming the batter with the most sixes in ODI history with 352 to his tally, breaking Shahid Afridi's all-time record.
Kohli showed his vintage form and enthralled the full house with 11 fours and seven towering sixes. This was his third century at the ground.
Scoring his sixth ODI ton against the Proteas in 102 balls, Kohli leapt in joy, punching the air as the whole stadium gave him a standing ovation, including his teammates in the dressing room. He then scored his next 32 runs from 18 balls before his innings came to an end. By then, he shared a 76-run stand with captain KL Rahul for the fifth wicket. Rahul's 65-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja helped India post 349.
Marco Jansen, expensive with the ball on the day, continued his batting form from the Test series with a 39-ball 70, while Matthew Breetzke showed his mettle with a patient, need-of-the-hour, 80-ball 72 to revive the chase from a precarious 3/11 as Harshit Rana took two wickets in three balls in the second over. Markram, too, departed soon.
Jansen and Breetzke stitched a 97-run stand for the sixth wicket to keep SA in the hunt, but Kuldeep Yadav returned to send both set batters back in to wrest back the advantage. Bosch then tried his best, but it was in vain.
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