KANPUR : Captain AB de Villers completed a spectacular century with a six off the final ball of the innings to lead South Africa to a record 303 for five in the opening cricket One-day International against India, here today.
A packed stadium erupted when de Villiers (104 not out off 73 balls) smacked the ball over long-on boundary to bring his 21st ODI hundred, also ensuring that South Africa became the first to score 300 at the Green Park Stadium here.
With premier bowler Ravichandran Ashwin not finishing his quota of 10 overs, Indian pacers leaked heavy runs in the death, allowing South Africa to amass 109 off the last 10 overs.
The final over of the innings bowled by Umesh Yadav went for 21 runs as de Villiers ended the innings in a dramatic fashion. Faf du Plessis also scored a handy 62 in the middle overs.
The visitors made a sedate start to their innings after winning the toss.
Quinton de Kock (29) and Hashim Amla were solid in their approach and waited for the odd loose ball offered by pace duo of Umesh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
De Kock, playing his first competitive game of the tour, was the aggressor in the brief opening stand. Umesh, returning to action, gave the southpaw a few easy ones on the pads and he made full use of it. His first ball was a half volley on the leg stump and de Kock flicked it past midwicket with ease.
The left-hander struck five boundaries, four of which came though the leg side. While Amla was quiet at the other end, de Kock looked threatening.
With the new ball bowlers not providing him the breakthrough, India captain MS Dhoni went to his go-to-man Ashwin. And he took just four balls to strike, having the dangerous de Kock caught at first slip with a loopy off- spinner, leaving South Africa at 48 for one by the end of 10 overs.
Thereafter, South Africa chugged along with another handy stand of 59 runs between Amla and du Plessis as the Indians started bowling with more discipline.
The Indian skipper squeezed in as many as seven overs from part-timer Suresh Raina (0/37), who did well to keep things tight in his first outing with the ball on home ground.
While du Plessis scored at a decent pace, Amla was finding it tough to get a move on. Soon after, Amit Mishra was brought back into the attack and the leg-spinner prised out the second wicket for India by getting through the stumps of Amla with a faster one. He labored to 37 off 59 balls.
Amla’s fall brought captain de Villiers out in the middle and that surprisingly attracted a huge roar from a sellout crowd. Du Plessis was going strong at the other end and he completed his 50 by hitting the first six of the match with a heave over deep midwicket.
However, du Plesis could not go on to score a big one as Umesh, who was wayward in his opening four-over spell, struck on the very first ball of his second burst trapping the right -hander in front.
At 152 for three in 33.1 overs and de Villiers and David Miller batting, South Africa still had 300 well within their reach.
De Villiers eventually got into his big hitting zone after the 40th over with the crowd cheering every one of his lusty blows.
He hammered military medium Stuary Binny for two sixes and as many fours in an over that leaked 21 runs and gave the innings a much need push.
The other power hitter Miller (13) and in-form JP Dumniy (15) departed cheaply but the captain ensured his team got to a record total on a pitch that was getting slower and slower.
The innings also saw Ashwin getting injured while diving off his own bowling in the 32nd over. He went off the field for while and that led to the premier strike bowler not being able to complete his full quota of overs.
Dhoni too took a gamble by using faster bowlers more in the death overs, letting Ashwin end with only 4.4 overs. (PTI)
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