Tsotsobe takes four as SA humiliate India

Lonwabo Tsotsobe was the pick of the South African bowlers with figures of four for 31 as India slumped to a humiliating 135-run defeat against the hosts in the first one-dayer in Durban on Wednesday.

Chasing 290 for victory, India were never in the hunt after they lost their first four batsmen for just 43 runs and were ultimately bundled out for 154 in 35.4 overs yesterday.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted what went wrong with the visitors was the fact that they lost early wickets.

"Chasing 290 runs was a stiff target especially on the Kingsmead track. If we would have got a good start then we could have fancied our chances," he explained.

India lost four wickets for a mere 43 runs and Dhoni said the poor start put a lot of pressure on the lower half of the batting order.

"Playing well against quality fast bowlers on new white ball is going to be a huge challenge," he said.

"This wicket had a bit of bounce but it was not that quick a wicket. We could have negotiated the first 8-10 overs and then could have gone for runs," he added.

Earlier, AB de Villiers (76 off 69) notched up a crucial half century to propel South Africa to a challenging 289 for nine.

South Africa were looking good for a few more but four wickets for just 56 runs in the last 10 overs somewhat foiled their plans.

Batting first after winning the toss, South Africa rode on Hashim Amla's (50) initial burst and de Villiers and Duminy's partnership to post the challenging total.

While boundaries kept coming at regular intervals as long as de Villiers and Duminy were at the crease, the two also ran hard between the wickets to steal the singles and twos.

After Munaf brought to an end the out-of-sorts Ingram's 34-minute stay in the middle, de Villiers signalled his arrival with two fours.

Along with Duminy, who came in at the fall of Amla's wicket, de Villiers rebuilt the hosts' innings by playing some sensible cricket.

De Villiers' knock, whose included seven fours and a six, found boundaries at will, including a straight six off Harbhajan midway into the innings.

JP Duminy notched up contrasting half century (73 off 89).

Duminy mainly relied on ones and the twos.

He, however, sent a Yuvraj delivery over long-on for the maximum.

Apart from that six, Duminy had just one four to show for.  

Thanks to the de Villiers-Duminy combo, South Africa were cruising at 213 for three before the 131-run partnership came to an end.

Miller came and left but the hosts were dealt a big blow when Duminy, trying to reverse sweep Rohit, found himself trapped leg-before. 

That pegged South Africa back and they scored less than 100 runs in the last 15 overs, and just 45 after Duminy's departure in the 42nd over.

Virat Kohli top-scored for India with a 54 off 70 balls and together with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (25 off 35) added 52 runs for the fifth wicket to take India past the 150-mark.

Apart from Kohli and Dhoni, Suresh Raina was the other notable contributor for India with 32 off 36 balls.

already carrying a depleted batting line-up in the absence of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, India were dealt a severe blow in the fourth over when Sachin Tendulkar perished, top-edging a Tsotsobe delivery to Steyn at fine leg leaving the visitors' scoreboard reading 13 for two.

India's problems were further compounded when Morkel struck twin blows in the 11th over. Rohit was the first of Morkel's victim, caught by wicket-keeper de Villiers off the first ball of the 11th over but the batsman felt otherwise and left the ground dejected at umpire Simon Taufel's decision.

Much was expected from Yuvraj Singh but he too failed to live up to his reputation as he departed three balls later, nicking another to de Villiers off Morkel.

Kohli and Dhoni then played sensible cricket with ones and twos to steady the ship before the former opened up clobbering Johan Botha for a straight six and a four in the 22nd over.

The duo put on 52 runs for the fifth wicket.

Dale Steyn (two for 29) and Morne Morkel (two for 12) posed a lot of problems for the Indian batsmen early on.

India's run chase started on a precarious note as Murali Vijay fell off the fourth ball of the innings, trapped leg-before by Steyn.

Smith's decision to call back Steyn into the attack in the 30th over worked when the pacer had Kohli caught by the Proteas skipper himself in the mid-wicket but not before the right-hander scored his fifty during which he struck two fours and a lone six.

Wickets continued to tumble as Harbhajan departed for a duck, bowled by Parnell.

And once Raina was dismissed, caught by Colin Ingram off Tsotsobe, victory was just a formality for the home team.