— Cape Town The hope was that a changeover to his preferred format would coincide with a recovery to form for the struggling limited-overs skipper of the Proteas, Temba Bavuma.
But even the change to 50 overs, which was shortened to 40 overs on Thursday in Lucknow due to rain, could not offer Bavuma with any type of relief.
The Proteas captain came to the crease in a good frame of mind, hoping to put his T20 struggles behind him, and within the first six balls he blasted two precise boundaries.
Bavuma unleashed a particularly adventurous reverse-sweep off Ravi Bishnoi when he picked up the ball from outside leg-stump and swept it square on the off-side.
In the T20 series, the batsman scored just three runs off of 19 balls, which did not indicate a lack of confidence.
The second was likewise aesthetically pleasing. As Bishnoi overcooked a flighted delivery, Bavuma surged forward and opened his batting face to smash the ball past the covers for another four.
At that time, it appeared that Bavuma was back on track and that probably the worst era of his career was rapidly coming to an end.
Unfortunately for South Africa, who are eager to see their captain bat ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup, Bavuma’s contribution was limited to a single run before he was unable to stop a superb delivery from Shakur Thakur.
Fortunately for Bavuma and the Proteas, their batters are now striking the ball cleanly. Certainly, David Miller and Quinton de Kock are.
De Kock (48 off 54 balls) and Janneman Malan (22) put on 49 runs for the first wicket before a mini-collapse saw South Africa reduced to 71/3 with Aiden Markram (0) failing yet again, unable to translate his dominant T20 form to the 50-over arena.
Despite this, De Kock and Heinrich Klaasen were able to stabilize South Africa’s innings with a 39-run partnership before Bishnoi trapped De Kock in front.
Miller and Klaasen maintained a great partnership for the remainder of India’s innings, preventing any additional success. Klaasen, in his first match of the tour, shot a flawless 74 over 65 balls (6×4, 2×6).
Miller matched Klaasen shot-for-shot and remained unbeaten on 75 off 63 balls (5×4, 3×6) as the pair propelled the visitors to 249/4 with their 139-run fifth-wicket stand.
In 5.1 overs, Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell struck with the new ball to remove Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan, reducing India’s batting lineup to 8/2.
Shreyas Iyer fought heroically to keep the hosts in contention with a half-century off 37 deliveries before Sanju Samson and Thakur made South Africa sweat with a 93-run stand off 66 balls until Lungi Ngidi (3/52) took two wickets in consecutive balls.
India needed 31 off Tabraiz Shamsi’s final over, but despite Samson’s heroics in hitting 20 runs, it was not enough as South Africa won the inaugural one-day international by nine runs.
The Proteas’ T20 World Cup aspirations were dealt a blow on Thursday when all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius was ruled out with a fractured left thumb. A replacement has not yet been designated.
Scorecard
SA: 249/4 (Miller 75*, Klaasen 74*, De Kock 48, Thakur 2/35)
India: 240/8 (Samson 86*, Iyer 50, Ngidi 3/52, Rabada 2/36)