In the first ODI match against South Africa, Team India posted a total of 349 runs for the loss of eight wickets at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Jharkhand.
Stalwart batsman Virat Kohli played a glorious knock of 135 runs off 120 deliveries. His knock was laced with 11 boundaries and seven maximums.
Having put to bat first, Team India lost the early wicket of opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal on 18 runs in 16 balls. His knock included two boundaries and a maximum. Rohit Sharma accumulated 57 runs off 51 balls, with the help of five boundaries and three maximums.
With this, the Nagpur-born cricketer surpassed Pakistan legend Shahid Afridi to become the player with the most number of sixes in the history of the One-Day International (ODI) matches. Currently, Rohit enjoys the top spot on the list with 352 maximums in 277 ODI matches for the “Men in Blue”. The knock against the Proteas in the first ODI also helped him register his 60th half-century in the format
Earlier, Shahid Afridi was at the top with 351 sixes in 398 ODI games for the “Green Shirts”.
Facing 14 balls, Ruturaj Gaikwad returned to the pavilion on eight runs. Washington Sundar registered 13 runs in 199 balls, including a maximum. Skipper KL Rahul also departed after scoring 60 runs in 56 balls, with the help of two boundaries and three maximums.
Ravindra Jadeja, too, managed to score 32 runs after facing 20 balls, and smashed two boundaries and a maximum. Arshdeep Singh departed on a first-ball duck. Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav stayed unbeaten on scores of three and zero runs. Rana faced two balls, whereas Kuldeep faced just one ball.
South Africa`s Marco Jansen, Nandre Burger, Corbin Bosch, and Ottniel Baartman registered two wickets each to their names. Completing their quotas of 10 overs each, Jansen conceded 76, and Burger was smashed for 65 runs. On the other hand, Baartman leaked 60, and Bosch gave away 66 runs.
Prenelan Subrayen went wicketless in the first ODI match against the “Men in Blue”. Bowling 10 overs, he was smashed for 73 runs.
