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Ranchi ODI was like Super Over, India defeated South Africa in a thrilling match, took lead in the series

Samira Vishwas | December 1, 2025 7:24 AM CST

India beat South Africa in Ranchi: India defeated South Africa by 17 runs in the first ODI played in Ranchi to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The match remained exciting till the last over, where Prasidh Krishna changed the course of the contest by taking a crucial wicket.

Bad start for South Africa

Chasing the target of 350 runs, South Africa had a very bad start. The team lost two wickets in the second over itself, where Rickleton and Quinton de Kock returned without opening the account. Harshit Rana gave a great start by dismissing both. After this, Arshdeep Singh dismissed Aiden Markram (7), which increased the pressure on the African team. De Georgi scored 39 runs, but he was trapped LBW by Kuldeep Yadav.

Dewald Brevis played a brilliant inning of 37 runs, but Rana sent him to the pavilion. The middle order partnership of Marco Jansen (70 runs) and Matthew Britzke (72 runs) made the match exciting, but India maintained the lead by taking wickets at regular intervals. South Africa needed 18 runs in the last over, but Prasidh Krishna ensured victory by dismissing Crobyn Bosch (67).

Strong performance by Indian bowlers

Both spin and pace played a major role in India’s victory. Kuldeep Yadav took 4 wickets and wreaked havoc on Africa’s middle order. Harshit Rana took a total of 3 wickets with the initial blows. Arshdeep Singh proved his usefulness by taking 2 wickets.

Virat Kohli scored a century

Batting first, India scored 349 runs for 8 wickets in 50 overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma started the innings. Both added 25 runs for the first wicket, after which Jaiswal was out after scoring 18 runs. Rohit Sharma played a quick inning of 57 runs, in which he hit 5 fours and 3 sixes. Ruturaj Gaikwad (8) and Washington Sundar (13) could not play big innings.

Taking command of the team, Virat Kohli scored a brilliant 135 runs in 120 balls. He hit 11 fours and 7 sixes in his innings and led the team towards a strong score. Ravindra Jadeja scored 32 runs in 20 balls, while captain KL Rahul played a useful inning of 60 runs. For South Africa, Nandre Berger, Bosch, Marco Jansen and Bartman took 2 wickets each.