WATCH - du Plessis celebrates his century

A top-class innings from South Africa's captain. He's had to change gears constantly through this innings, but he's managed to get the ton in 101 balls.

South Africa 269 for 8 (Du Plessis 120, Morris 37, Kuldeep 3-34) v India
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

With an innings of immense determination, Faf du Plessis ushered South Africa to 269, a total of outstanding proportions on a slow pitch in Durban. His 120 ended up looking like an aberration on the scorecard; the next best contribution was 37 and no one who faced more than 20 balls managed a strike-rate anywhere near his 107.14.

Much of that was down to the work of India's wristspinners, playing in tandem for the first time outside the subcontinent. Figures of 5 for 79 in 20 overs are impressive enough but the inference gained from those numbers would please the team management more. The introduction of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav brought the scoring rate down. Their control spurred second thoughts in the batsman's mind. And their googlies were downright nuisances. South Africa were 79 for 1 in 14 overs when India turned to spin. They had sunk to 134 for 5 by the time the stranglehold relented.

Then Dr. Du Plessis took over. He knew the recovery would take time, and that he had to be present every step of the way. The job required patience and diligence and skill and the South African captain was not found wanting. Even when that bad back of his kept flaring up. Du Plessis was 91 not out in his last ODI when he had to retire hurt because of it. This time he simply wouldn't let it - or the Indian bowlers - win without a fight. He came in with a flurry of fours - there were three in an over against Bhuvneshwar Kumar - and he left the field after striking a couple of towering sixes straight down the ground. The essence of the innings though lay in the shots he played in between. The nudges and nurdles square of the wicket on both sides.

As hard as he applied himself, Du Plessis looked every bit as awkward as anyone facing the wristspinners; his strike-rate against Kuldeep was 65. And he could have been lbw on 18 if India had chosen to double-check an appeal from Chahal in the 13th over. Given that slice of luck, he worked hard not to need another, forced to do so because the South African middle order simply fell limp. JP Duminy tried cutting a wrong 'un and was bowled. David Miller played away from his body and was caught at short cover. All they needed was survive the spinners and India would be forced to bring back their quicks, who were far easier to handle considering there was no sideways movement. Du Plessis collected 72 runs off 60 balls from the seamers, and was particularly brutal on Bhuvneshwar, as a strike-rate of 189 shows.

Chris Morris showed promise, playing his first ODI since June 2017, and strung a partnership of 74 runs for the sixth wicket with his captain. He was ever so decisive with his footwork, which meant he never needed to hold back his hitting power. Case in point - an inside out six over cover, played against the turn, to dent the figures of the best bowler on show, Kuldeep. There was instant retribution for the bowler though, knocking the stumps over with a full toss no less. Andile Phehlukwayo then gave Du Plessis the support he needed to put a competitive score on the board, as a 56-run seventh wicket partnership took South Africa past 250.

India have established a habit of winning ODIs batting second, nine of their last 10 chases have been successful. But they could have made the job a lot easier on themselves. The leader of their attack, Bhuvneshwar, struggled to pose a threat with no movement on offer. Even Jasprit Bumrah couldn't muster pace off this pitch. India's three fast bowlers, including Hardik Pandya, leaked 168 runs at 6.2 per over, adding to Virat Kohli's problems, which began early in the day when he got his knee stuck in the outfield while trying to stop a boundary and was forced off the field on more than one occasion to tend to it. He'll want to personally make sure the mistakes India made in the final 20 overs of the innings become a footnote and not the headline.