Indian captain Shikhar Dhawan admitted that they conceded too many runs on a helpful pitch which was doing a lot for the bowlers at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Thursday. Dhawan won the toss and decided to bowl first in overcast conditions after the match was reduced to 40-overs-a-side due to rain.

The pitch was playing all sorts of tricks as the South African openers – Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock – struggled to get going against Mohammed Siraj and Avesh Khan. There was a lot of spin on offer as well but Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller scored 74 and 75 runs respectively to set up a target of 250 runs for the home team.

The left and right-hand batting pair added 139 runs for the fifth wicket as they took the attack against the Indian debutant Ravi Bishnoi, who conceded 69 runs in his quota of eight overs, the most expensive figures for an Indian playing his maiden ODI match.

On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson tried hard to get their team over the line but they had too much to do after the team was on the ropes at 51-4 after 17.1 overs. The required run rate kept climbing up but Iyer played an aggressive role while Samson took some time to hit the top gear.

Iyer scored 50 from 37 balls while Samson scored an unbeaten knock of 86 runs but India fell short by nine runs in the end.

Shikhar Dhawan said in the post-match presentation, “Quite proud of the way the boys played the game, we didn’t get a good start, but the way Shreyas, Samson, and Shardul batted was excellent. We gave away too many runs on a wicket that swung and spun, the fielding wasn’t great, but this was a good learning experience for us.”

The Proteas have taken a 1-0 lead in the series and earned crucial points in the World Cup Super League.

The second ODI will be played on Sunday at Ranchi.