South Africa 280 for 4 in 48.2 overs (G Kirsten 133*, H Gibbs 48, J Kallis 39) beat India 279 for 5 in 50 overs (S Ganguly 127, S Tendulkar 101) by 6 wickets South Africa had a flawless 133 not out by Gary Kirsten to thank for an easy six-wicket win over India in the opening match of the Standard Bank three-way one-day series at Johannesburg. India had batted very well themselves – Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly both made hundreds – to set South Africa an imposing target of 280, but Kirsten's calculated innings made the victory look like a walk in the park.

Kirsten, the Man of the Match, was aided by Herschelle Gibbs's manic 48 at the start and Jacques Kallis's calm 39 in the middle, while right at the end Lance Klusener put the icing on the victory cake by pounding India's fastest bowler, Javagal Srinath, for two monster sixes before he holed out.

And yet it was an afternoon that had begun with much promise for India. Their batting was expected to crumble against an all-pace attack on a hard pitch, but right from the moment Ganguly creamed Shaun Pollock's first ball through the covers, it looked as if a big score was on the cards. Ganguly took all the risks, while Tendulkar, back in international cricket after a three-month layoff, cut them out completely.

After bringing up his fifty Ganguly exploded into a series of daring leg-side sixes that were neither pulls nor pick-ups but a crude, awesome amalgamation of both. The openers put on 193, but South Africa had only themselves to blame for that: Klusener dropped Tendulkar at slip when he had 11, and Justin Kemp at fine leg grassed Ganguly on 43.

When Ganguly was eventually out for 127, off 126 balls, Tendulkar had only 55, from 87 balls, but he upped his tempo to reach 100 in only 42 more. Yuvraj Singh and Ajit Agarkar chipped in, but neither they, nor Tendulkar, could pull off the big hits that might have propelled the total past 300.

Gibbs and Kirsten began the chase belligerently. Gibbs struck Venkatesh Prasad for two fours in the very first over, and Kirsten got into the act by hitting Srinath to the square boundaries on either side.

Ganguly dropped Gibbs on 14, and the pair powered to 73 in the first 10 overs. By the time Gibbs was caught behind off Srinath for 48 in the 17th over, the target had shrunk to less than 170.

Kirsten coolly added 96 for the second wicket with Kallis, and India's three late wickets were, well, too late. It had been a terribly undisciplined display by the bowlers, and in Gary Kirsten – who has now scored four one-day centuries against India and boasts an average of more than 60 – they ran into a brick wall that moved forwards.

Rahul Bhattacharya is a staff writer with Wisden.com India.

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