Suresh Raina chipped in and bowled seven overs but he and Binny went for a combined tally of 100 runs in 15 overs without taking a wicket.
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Proteas coach, Russell Domingo, says the squad will hit the reset button after the high of the T20 global series win as they prepare for the first One-Day worldwide (ODI) against India in Kanpur on Sunday. We’ll have a look at the wicket, how dry it is, and the chances of it breaking up and assisting the spinners. He will be key in negating India’s spin factor and making sure South Africa keep building partnerships to launch a latter-over attack. But, Rabada conceded just 5 runs and claimed the wickets of MS Dhoni (31) and Stuart Binny.
A superb century from Rohit Sharma was not enough to prevent India slipping to a five run defeat against South Africa in the opening game of the five-match ODI series. Quinton de Kock is likely to return to worldwide action, while Hashim Amla is on the brink of reaching the 6,000-run mark in ODIs. JP Duminy, who has not been dismissed in the T20 series, has been in tremendous form for South Africa.
South Africa hope to build on their Twenty20 success by winning the one-day series as Dhoni prepared to douse the fire around him. It was a really close game and could have gone either way.
Winners of the inaugural World T20 in 2007, India will play more 20-over matches in Australia and at home against Sri Lanka early next year as they look to seal their best combination for the March 11-April 3 biennial tournament. We were positioned very well.
“The outcome was not great for us, there were quite a few things that went wrong, but I think we showed great character to fight on this wicket”. It’s a good start to the ODI series, but the momentum can change in a matter of seconds.
“It’s a young team, we’re still figuring out on what will be our best combination and the best way forward”.
Rabada was exhausted after his exploits and said it was emotional the way his team won the game. “With Ashwin around, we could have restricted them to 270-280 if not less”. He was bowling well. “They are one of the strongest across all formats”, he said.
“I felt our batting was really good”. Out came Ajinkya Rahane to bat and scored a 60 off 82 balls. Four years is a long time, but for Dhoni, towards the end of his career, to put himself up, I’m not sure about it. It was a fantastic innings from Rohit. “Of course, the bowlers will get a bit of respite because of the new rules”, India’s skipper said.
“If you see, this is one venue we can [play with three spinners]”, Dhoni said. Hence, the match is expected to be a cracker with lots of runs.
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The African team’s skipper was ably supported by Farhaan Behardien, whose little cameo of 35 not out off 19 balls propelled South Africa to a formidable total. His scores of 1, 23 and 25 extended his run without an ODI fifty to 10 innings.
