Du Plessis ton lifts S.Africa to 269/8 in first ODI

Durban, Feb 1 (CRICKETNMORE) - Skipper Faf du Plessis' ninth ODI century helped South Africa recover from a minor collapse to post a competitive 269/8 against India in the opener of the six-match One-day International series at Kingsmead here on

The captain started well by punishing pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for three consecutive boundaries as the second wicket stand started flourishing to 83/1 until Chahal struck with the wicket of de Kock, trapped in front before jolting the hosts with the wicket of Aiden Markram (9 off 21), thanks to a brilliant running catch from Hardik Pandya.

Kuldeep then joined the party with the quick dismissals of Jean Paul Duminy (12 off 18) and David Miller (7 off 7) even as du Plessis looked comfortable driving Kuldeep for a couple of runs through extra cover to bring up his 30th ODI fifty.

Duminy found the going tough against the chinaman before a googly, which kept low, broke through his defences leaving the Proteas struggling at 122/4.

Miller, who walked in next, too struggled against the unorthodox Kuldeep and all he could manage was a drive to skipper Virat Kohli, who completed an excellent catch, diving forward at short cover.

Kohli, who had previously sustained a knock, had returned to the field after nursing the bruise and positioned himself closer to the batsman, which helped him complete Miller's catch cleanly.