Cardiff: Opener Shikhar Dhawan bludgeoned his way to a maiden ODI century as a rejuvenated India kicked off their campaign in the ICC Champions Trophy with a comfortable 26-run victory over South Africa here on Thursday.
Chasing an imposing target of 332, South Africa were all out for 305.
The Proteas lost three top wickets for six runs in the Group B match.
The star of the show was Dhawan, who made 114 of a mere 94 balls to set the tone for India.
The left-hander had scored 185 on his Test debut against Australia in March.
South Africa, who ran neck-and-neck in terms of runs with India till at least the 35th over, paid the price for losing far too many wickets after at least three middle-order batsmen frittered away good starts.
India, on the other hand, profited after their openers Dhawan and Rohit Sharma (65) laid a solid foundation with an opening stand of 127.
This was the biggest difference between victory and defeat.
Dhawan was adjudged Man-of-the-Match.
Robin Peterson’s departure in the 25th over opened the floodgates as South Africa lost three quick wickets, including the man who had the calibre to take the game to the wire, skipper AB de Villiers.
Two horrible mix-ups ruined the South African run chase. Peterson, who survived a run out chance when he was on 29, was not lucky the second time as a diving Ravindra Jadeja caught him well short after de Villiers refused to run.
The left-handed Peterson was out for 68 (72 balls, 6 x 4s) and his 124-run third-wicket partnership with de Villiers kept South Africa in the running even after the Proteas lost openers Hashim Amla (22) and Colin Ingram (6) to Indian pacers Umesh Yadav (2/75) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/49), respectively.
Peterson, struck in the elbow by a Yadav delivery when he was on 17, battled pain and stitched a confident stand with his captain till disaster struck.
JP Duminy (14) followed Peterson and then a rush of blood saw de Villiers throw his wicket away after a polished 70 off 71 balls, his 33rd ODI half-century.
South Africa thus became the first team to lose a match while chasing in Cardiff.
All previous seven completed ODIs saw the team batting second win.
With their third victory in as many Champions Trophy games, India thus keep their all-win record intact against the Proteas.
Earlier, Dhawan’s century and his opening stand with Sharma helped India with a big total. India were put into bat after skipper MS Dhoni lost the toss in an overcast and chilly morning.
Dhawan was third out in the 38th over after scoring a well-paced 114, studded with 12 fours and a six.
The only life in his 94-ball innings came immediately after he scored his century.
De Villiers missed a stumping chance after the left-hander stepped out to off-spinner Duminy and missed the line.
“The boys played with plenty of aggression, but it was controlled,” Dhoni said after the match.
Expectedly, the skipper was full of praise for openers Dhawan and Rohit.
“Rohit batted well along with Shikhar, gave us a good platform, but we lost too many wickets during the middle. Going by our position around the 35th over mark, we were short by at least 25 runs.” (PTI)