South Africa won the toss in Southampton and opted to bat first, suffering an early setback when Hashim Amla was caught by Rohit Sharma at second slip off Jasprit Bumrah. Then Bumrah struck again, having Quinton de Kock caught by Virat Kohli at third slip.
Then Rassie van der Dussen and Faf du Plessis added 54, before both were both by Yuzvendra Chahal, van der Dussen for 22, and du Plessis for 38. After this it was the turn of fellow spinner Kuldeep Yadav to strike, removing JP Duminy lbw.
David Miller and Andile Phuhlakwayo put on 40, but then Miller fell for 31, caught and bowled by Chahal. Phehlukwayo took his own score to 34, combining with Chris Morris, until he became Chahal’s fourth victim, stumped by MS Dhoni. Morris and Kagiso Rabada provided some late resistance with a stand of 66 for the 8th wicket, until Morris, top scoring with 42, was caught behind off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who also took the wicket of Imran Tahir off the last ball as South Africa were restricted to 227 – 9.
In reply, India lost Shihkar Dhawan early, caught behind off the bowling of Rabada. Kohli and Rohit added 41, but then the Indian supporters were stunned when Kohli was superbly caught behind by de Kock off the bowling of Phehlukwayo for 18. However, Rohit and KL Rahul calmed the nerves with a stand of 85 for the third wicket, which was eventually broken when Rahul was caught by du Plessis off Rabada for 26.
That brought Dhoni to the wicket to join Rahul, and the pair all but quashed any hopes that the South Africans had of victory. Rahul went on to complete his 23rd ODI century, the slowest in terms of time taken to reach the mark, but as valuable as any of the others. Dhoni fell just towards the end, caught and bowled by Morris for 34, but, in the company of Hardik Pandya, Rahul reached India’s target with more than two overs to spare. Pandya was 15 not out at the end, whilst Rahul’s unbeaten 122 included 2 sixes, and 13 fours.