India vs South Africa 1st ODI HIGHLIGHTS: IND beat SA by 17 runs in first ODI in Ranchi

There is a breakthrough, finally it was a nothing delivery from Kuldeep asking to be hit, and Jansen mistimed one straight to the mid-wicket fielder and the relief on the face of Kuldeep and Rahul has said it all. As we update, Breetzke has fallen here. What a presence of mind that was from Kuldeep to toss one up, and Breetzke went after the delivery and could not get anything in the middle and was holed out long-on by Kohli. Well, India had to bide their time, but they have pulled two quick wickets, and the game is now right back under control.

Breetzke has batted nicely here. He was playing his shots before, and now he has recognised the need of the hour is to just support Jansen from the other end and let the partnership grow, and it has grown quite quickly. KL Rahul is turning back to his bowlers, but there is not a lot happening on the surface. The dew now seems to have completely taken effect, and the slower ones, the bumpers, the yorkers are just not that bit accurate enough, and the batters have been able to get underneath. Jansen has been quite brutal.

Jansen is hitting a few big shots here. He is getting hold of the deliveries and seems like he is carrying on the good form from his Guwahati Test earlier in the week. Indians are a bit shell-shocked seems like they are just hoping that mistake from Jansen would come, and so far, nah! Jansen is having none of it. What a tour he has had with the ball with the bat, just as a player. If he can pull a dramatic innings here, what a cherry on top of the cake it will be for him. We have seen those knocks before from situations like these, from James Faulkner of Australia. Can Jansen do that? Only time will tell.

Brevis has fallen here, and it is Harshit Rana who has come back into his second spell to get the breakthrough. It was a fuller one from the bowler outside the off-stump, which Brevis tried to hit through the cover region and was caught on the boundary. It was a good innings while it lasted, but eventually came to an end. South Africa has now lost half their side, with not much on the board. We might well see South Africa losing their first game of the ongoing series. India has bowled well, though, to be fair to them.

Kuldeep has bowled a nice spell here. He is bowling quite a cheeky spell, is the right word. The first thing that is noticeable is there is not a lot of dew yet, and the second thing is the variation in line and length has looked quite magnificent. There was a game in Pune a few years back under Virat Kohli in a similarly high-scoring game when there was a bit of dew, and the batters were coming after him. The wrist spinner did not have many answers, but things have changed now, and he has looked very good today.

Kuldeep Yadav got rid of Tony De Zorzi, the ball pitched on middle and leg, and turned into the batter, and he was stuck on the crease, and the ball hit the pads. The on-field umpire did not give it out; however, KL Rahul has decided to send it upstairs, where there were three reds. Just when it felt like South Africa where getting some momentum into their innings, another wicket has fallen. Dewald Brevis is the new man in. If he were to stay some time at the crease, the Ranchi crowd might witness some mammoth sixes.

Prasidh and Washington Sundar are operating at the moment. This is some pretty good bowling from Prasidh. He is hitting the pitch hard, and the ball is going through quickly in the air. Washington Sundar from the other end, rather than looking to turn the ball, is firing into the pads, and De Zorzi is looking to attack the off-spinner. We have seen this through the Test series. De Zorzi likes to go after the spinners, and India would be hoping that his attacking intent might create an opening for the offie.

Both the Indian new-ball bowlers have started quite magnificently here. They have bowled tight lines and lengths, and more than anything, the shot-making from South Africa has been quite average up front. This still is a pretty good wicket, and if the batters were to apply themselves, there are runs to be had. Also, now in this particular over, Arshdeep Singh yet again pitched a couple up, but Bretzkee has had the ball right in the slot and driven quite well. Tony De Zorzi is the batter from the other end; he, too, is quite good against the spinners. Hence, it is important that these two bat together for some time.

Harshit Rana has got two in that opening over after Rickelton; he got the wicket of De Kock, who drove the ball away from his body and edged it to the keeper. That is two wickets in that first over for Rana. South Africa is two wickets down, 10 minutes into this chase. What a start this is for the hosts. They have a lot of work to do here. Do the South Africans need to preserve a few wickets till the 30th or 35th over mark if they are serious about chasing this mamoth total? It is interesting to see if Arshdeep can get the same amount of moment from the other end as well.

South Africa (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock(w), Aiden Markram(c), Matthew Breetzke, Tony de Zorzi, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Prenelan Subrayen, Nandre Burger, Ottneil Baartman

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna

Rohit Sharma broke the world record for most sixes in ODI history in spectacular fashion in Ranchi on Sunday, surpassing Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi with three powerful hits against South Africa in the first ODI at the JSCA International Stadium. (Read more)

KL Rahul fell here on the previous delivery. He reverse-ramped a delivery into the stands, and he tried the same shot again and ended up giving it straight to the keeper. He did his job well with the situation he came into bat and the way he constructed his innings, it was a perfect knock from him. 343 is what India has got with one over to spare. Regardless of that, India has to bowl well; they have to make the most of the new ball, where under lights, there will be some nibble for the new ball bowlers to work with.

KL Rahul is the key man here. He has played it quite smartly. He has spent time in the crease while Kohli was going through the gears. Now, with a six in that previous over, he has reached the strike rate of 100. It has been a subtle knock from him if he manages to get around 70, India might be looking at the 340-350 mark which might not be a bad score, but for that to happen, Ravindra Jadeja needs to help him out. Again, like the batters before it is not going to be easy for Jadeja either, but he has to make sure that at least he doesn't play too many dots.

Now that the landmark stuff is sorted, the question for India is how much they think is enough to win this game. Anything around 330 must be a good total, but with the dew to play a part, the wicket will be quite easy for South Africa to bat on. In the first innings, though, things have been quite different. The way Rahul has batted today is indicative of how this pitch has been playing. Apart from Kohli and Rohit, none of the other batters have looked good; hence, if India were to maximise these final overs, it is important that Kohli bats through.

Virat Kohli guides one through the third-man region for a boundary to get his 52nd ODI ton. That is a brilliant innings experience class not brought in the market, reckoned Kohli, which is true. This innings has shown two different sides of Kohli. Initially, when he came in, he played his shots, and once the going got tough, he adjusted the gears nicely and played accordingly. Regardless of what people might say he the King of this format is Kohli. Both Rohit and the centurion in this game have silenced their critics quite strongly and are making a strong case for the 2027 ODI World Cup.

KL Rahul plays one shot through mid-wicket and gets the boundary, which breaks the boundary drought which has been going on for the last four overs. This has been a good spell of bowling from South Africa. Markram just kept his pacers going from one end, giving them short, sharp bursts, and once the ball has gotten older in the last few overs, they have resorted to clever variations which are doing the trick for them. For India, though, when they are bowling, this might not be the case with all the dew which is expected to fall.

One thing India has done in this innings, which South Africa might be forced to match later, is the number of sixes they have already managed to get. We are 28 overs into the innings, India has scored 28 sixes, and the reason behind that has to do with the amount of pace South Africa has bowled in this innings. Will the presence of Keshav Maharaj alters the proceedings is something that can be pondered upon, but it does feel South Africa are a spinner light for these conditions. Given that now there is a left-hander, it would not be a bad ploy for Markram to bring himself on into the attack.

Well, since the wicket of Rohit, things have gone a bit quieter, which is expected. New batter Ruturaj Gaikwad has just walked into the middle, and he might need some time to get adjusted to the conditions in the middle. And also something which can be expected of this wicket is that it might get slower and lower as the ball gets older. The oddball hitting the crack might misbehave, as we have seen with Rohit's dismissal. The challenge for Gaikwad here, though to keep the strike rotating and let Kohli keep up the tempo.

Well, there is the breakthrough, and it is Rohit Sharma who has fallen. Marco Jansen's delivery has hit the crack and skidded through, and Rohit, trying to pull the shot, missed it, and the ball hit Rohit's leg, and it looked plumb, and the umpire did not take much longer in giving it out either. There was a discussion between Rohit and Kohli about the review; however, they went against it, and Rohit walked back. Ruturaj Gaikwad is the new batter who has walked in. Well, what an opportunity for him to score some runs and put his name in contention for the World Cup.

It has been all India. Jaiswal, with his six over the fine-leg, gave signals to the dressing room of how this wicket is going to play. Although he got out, it has been carnage from Rohit and Kohli. Both have batted quite well. As we update, both Rohit and Kohli have put up a 100-run stand here. This is the second one in a row after what happened in Sydney last month. The way both are batting in the middle, it looks like they are not going to stop any time soon, either. Markram now has to get deep into his pockets to look for other bowling changes.

The crowd are getting what they came to witness the Rohit-Kohli special. Both are playing quite fluently here, and given how well the pitch is playing, we might end up seeing them score some big runs as well. Rohit especially has got the measure of the pitch and is playing some lovely, silky shots, waiting for the ball to come to him. Kohli, on the other hand, is charging down the track and creating that pace which is not there in the wicket. As we update, South Africa has turned to a spinner for the first time in this innings in Subrayen.

Lalith Kalidas: Virat Kohli now has the joint-most sixes by a No. 3 in international cricket. That maximum off Burger was 217th in the position across formats, equalling Ricky Ponting.

We are done with the opening over and it is Marco Jansen who took the ball. And as expected, there is not a lot of swing and seam moment available for him. However, we have seen in the red-ball series that he still can beat the bowlers with the bounce he can extract on any sort of surface because of his height. And from the other end, for South Africa, it is another left-arm seamer who has taken the new ball, and it is Nandre Burger. He is quite quicker than Jansen is Burger. He tends to hit that 150 KPH quite regularly.

67m and 65m square boundaries, the straight boundary is at 75m. This pitch is being used for the first time in international cricket after being relaid in 2023. It looks good, a few cracks, but there's enough grass cover to keep it binded. It's very hard and it should play nicely. Will it crumble under the footholes and help spin going further? The pitch was relaid with Cuttack black / Orissa black which suggests that there should be more carry and bounce when compared to the previous wicket. It should be a good batting surface, but dew could play a big factor. It would make sense to chase here

We'll bowl first. Spent a couple of evenings, dew at night time and it'll be slightly easier to bat at night. Different personnel, the dressing room is at a good place with a lot of energy and fun. It's an important series, the end role the 2027 WC, still a bit of time, but we're up against one of the best teams in the world. Just one spinner in Subrayen, I will bowl a bit - Temba and Maharaj have been rested, four seamers for us today.

Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishn

“We’ve been able to try different combinations in the 50-over space and we still have time before getting close to a final squad,” Prince said on the eve of the first ODI against India here.

“If there’s one area, it’s the bigger moments — tighter, clutch moments. White-ball cricket is about high-pressure environments and that’s where we want to get better,” he said.

“I would love to see him in the 11, but I think the way the 11 is going to be constructed, I see no place for Rishabh Pant at this stage. He comes in because Shubman Gill is not there in the side and once you have decided to pick Tilak Varma in the 11, you see KL Rahul coming in as a wicketkeeper. Then you have the all-rounders coming through.

“The other option is to play Rishabh Pant low down the order and play with only five specialist bowlers and get maybe Tilak Varma or Yashasvi Jaiswal to bowl two, three overs,” Karim remarked.

"I am happy to have him back again with the ODI team. He missed out the Australia series but he was part of the Champions Trophy as well. And he was key in us winning that tournament. He is someone who can do everything and he is someone who has always done everything that the team has required of him."

Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Reddy, KL Rahul (C), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh