India vs South Africa 1st ODI Highlights: Fifties From Sudharsan, Iyer Power IND To 8-Wicket Win

With almost 34 overs to spare, India annihilate South Africa by 8 wickets. 

In an effort to finish it in style, Shreyas Iyer departs right after scoring a fifty. In hindsight, India are in touching distance of the target with just six runs away.

With just 37 required off 37 overs remaining, this game is in India's pockets. It will be interesting to see how early they will breach the target. 

This is slowly becoming a cakewalk for Team India. Too easy at the moment. It has stopped swinging and both Shreyas Iyer, Sai Sudharsan are making the most of it. Keshav Maharaj introduced into the attack. 

First wicket for South Africa and a big one! Ruturaj Gaikwad has been trapped in front of the wicket as Wiaan Mulder strikes. Shreyas Iyer is the new batter in. IND 28/1 (4)

Sai Sudharsan and Ruturaj Gaikwad begin the proceedings. The debutant Sudharsan played a brilliant cover drive to announce himself in the international arena. 

Kuldeep gets the last one! A deceptive googly proves too challenging for Burger to read. Pitching just outside off, it sharply spins back in, and takes the inside edge before crashing the wickets. 

India need 117 to win the first ODI.

South Africa: 116-10 (27.3)

Phehlukwayo is playing an important role in keeping South Africa in the game, currently standing strong at 24 runs. He's finding valuable support from Nandre Burger, who is doing good in preserving his wicket.

South Africa: 91-8 (23)

South Africa's misery is not ending here. They have lost seven wickets under 60 runs. Miller departed, after attempting a slash on the short of a length ball outside off stump, edging it straight to KL Rahul. 

South Africa: 65-7 (15)

Aiden Markram, the skipper, is gone. Avesh gets his first, and the second as Wiaan Mulder goes for a duck after Arshdeep runs riot, taking four wickets.

South Africa: 52-6 (10.1)

Arshdeep Singh takes his third wicket. Tony de Zorzi was looking good, but the batter mistimed the pull shot, presenting an easy catch to KL Rahul.

South Africa: 49-3 (9)

Wicket! There's another one, it's two in two for Arshdeep as Van der Dussen goes in the first ball. He decided to go for the review but it was the umpire's call and he had to go back to the pavilion. Arshdeep is on a hat-trick here.

IND vs SA 1st ODI Live Score: South Africa: 3/2 (1.5)

Wicket! South Africa are one down already as Arshdeep strikes in his very first over. There was a tight and disciplined start from Mukesh in the first over and the left-armer continued it and ended up finding the early success. Hendricks goes for 0.

IND vs SA 1st ODI Live Score: South Africa: 3/1 (1.4) 

Tony de Zorzi and Reeza Hendricks have taken the crease with the bat for South Africa whereas Mukesh Kumar has the new ball in hand. 

The action is just a few minutes away as both teams line up for the national anthems.

"We are gonna bat first. Used wicket, we'd like to bat first, we are playing two spinners. It's a fantastic day, hats off to the people. Hopefully, both teams can put on a nice show for them. Burger makes his debut - a special day for him. Opportunities are vital, none better than today."

"No (haven't played since the WC final). On a special day, watched a lot of cricket on TV - the Pink ODI is a big occasion here in South Africa. Looking forward to a cracker of a game. There was a of spin and it was try, we'll try to put pressure on them. Sai Sudharsan is on debut today. There are a few names that have played a lot of IPL cricket. Ruturaj did well, Tilak seems exciting, and Sanju is always exciting. We've got Axar and Kuldeep who'd love to see some spin. They know what pressure is and how to handle it. They all come with IPL experience, hopefully, that helps them here and they can perform to the best of their ability."

So we have two debutants in the match. Sai Sudharsan is making his ODI debut for India whereas Nandre Burger makes his maiden appearance as well for the South African team.

South Africa have won the toss and have opted to bat first in the first ODI match at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.

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Remember early… pic.twitter.com/VCRw9oDCMp, — Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 16, 2023

It remains overcast overhead in Johannesburg for now but the toss will take place in time with no weather interruptions at the moment.  A few thunderstorms with a possible forecast of consistent clouds have been predicted for today's match. 

"Playing on the pitch that was used a couple of days ago. Dimensions - 77 metres straight, square - 59 metres and 69 metres. A dry surface. It's a used pitch. Whoever wins the toss will want to bat first and put runs on the board. Few cracks, they haven't opened up too much. The grass is to hold it all together. 270 is the average score, last five (ODIs) - 298. You don't want to be below that. Bat first, get lots of runs."

So there's an ODI debut confirmed from the Indian camp as Sai Sudharsan received his debut cap from skipper KL Rahul.

The match toss will take place at 1:00 PM IST and the action begins at 1:30 PM IST. The match can be live streamed on Disney+Hotstar whereas the live telecast will be available on the Star Sports Network in India.

The three-match T20I series ended with a result of 1-1.

The first match of the series was abandoned due to persistent rain in Durban. The second match was won by South Africa by five wickets followed by India's 106-run victory in the third match in Johannesburg. 

T20Is #TeamIndia READY for the ODIs #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/eJE9XdCv8e, — BCCI (@BCCI) December 17, 2023

"[India] can almost field three sides and compete with the best in the world. We have something similar in terms of new faces. It's an opportunity to look at players and pave the way forward in 50-over cricket."

Rinku Singh has been the highlighted name in Indian cricket when it comes to mentioning the upcoming talent from the past few months as the star batter managed to make it to the T20I side and is now in the ODI team as well. He was the second-highest run-getter in the recently concluded T20I series. Skipper KL Rahul hinted at his place in the playing XI in the first match in the absence of a few senior players.

India and South Africa have faced off in 91 ODI matches so far with the latter having an upper hand as they have won 50 matches. On the other hand, the Men in Blue have emerged victorious on 38 occasions whereas three matches ended without a result.

"I don't think a lot will change in terms of of how we want to play ODI cricket," he said. "But there are a few new faces, so to expect them to play the role that Rohit Sharma played in the World Cup will be too soon. You have to make them feel comfortable. So there's no added pressure from our side.

"We need to focus on what's in front of us. How we played in the World Cup was really good, was very exciting. But we need to figure out here what works for us, what works for this Indian team in these conditions, and try and adapt."

Both teams will be in action in the ODI format for the first time since the ODI World Cup 2023 in India. The Men in Blue finished as runners up whereas South Africa lost in the semi-finals.

This first fixture of the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa will be a Pink ODI Match. South Africa have a dominating record in Pink ODI Matches with nine wins in 11 matches.

Know more about the Pink ODI Match: Click here

Hello and welcome to the live blog of the first ODI match of the three-match series between India and South Africa from the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The series opener will be a pink ODI match. Stay tuned for all the live and latest updates from the match.