Paarl/South Africa: India fell on the South African onslaught for 31 runs during the first of the three-match ODI series here on Wednesday. Chasing SA's 296 for 4, Indian innings ran out overs at 265 for 8.
For India, Shikhar Dawan (79 from 84) scored top, and Virat Kohli (51 from 63) scored two half tons trying to keep the momentum. Shardul Thakur (50 of 43 not out) came with a third at the tail end but in vain. Dhawan shot ten boundaries, Virat Kohli 3, and Thakur 5 but smashed a six too. India's middle-order couldn't stand SA bowling, and the game was lost. Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi and Andile Phehlukwayo picked two Indian wickets each and Markram and Keshav Maharaj got one each for SA.
Earlier, SA had a comparatively poor start after their innings slogged at 68 for three. But on the fourth wicket, SA captain Temba Bavuma scored 110 off 143, and Rassie van der Dussen scored 129 off 96, punishing Indian bowlers for building the team's foundation. On the fourth wicket, the batters added 204 runs. Jasprit Bumrah (2/48) and Ravichandran Ashwin (1/53) took SA wickets for India.
Meanwhile, Indian Virat Kohli went past Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar's record of most ODI runs by an Indian in away matches. Kohli went past Sachin's score of 5,065 runs on Wednesday. Sri Lankan ex-batter Kumar Sangakkara scored the most ODI away runs with 5,518 runs.