Cape Town — A switch to his favoured format was hopefully also to coincide with a return to form for the Proteas’ beleaguered limited-overs captain Temba Bavuma.
But not even the swap to 50 overs, which was reduced to 40 overs due to rain in Lucknow on Thursday, provided Bavuma with any sort of relief.
The Proteas captain strode to the crease in a positive mood, looking to put his T20 troubles behind him, as he struck two crisp boundaries within his first six balls.
The first was particularly audacious, with Bavuma unleashing a reverse-sweep off Ravi Bishnoi, when he picked the ball up from outside leg-stump to sweep it square on the off-side.
It certainly did not look like a batter devoid of confidence and who managed just three runs off 19 balls in the T20 series.
The second was equally pleasant on the eye. With Bishnoi overcooking a flighted delivery, Bavuma stepped forward and opened the face to smear the ball through the covers for another boundary.
At that stage it appeared as if Bavuma was up and running and that arguably the worst period of his career was drawing to rapid close.
Unfortunately for South Africa, who are desperate to see their captain spend some time at the crease ahead of the looming T20 World Cup, that was the sum total of Bavuma’s contribution before he was unable to keep out a beautiful delivery from Shakur Thakur.
Fortunately for Bavuma, and the Proteas, they do have batters who are striking the ball sweetly at the moment. And David Miller and Quinton de Kock certainly are.
De Kock (48 off 54 balls) got proceedings underway with Janneman Malan (22) in a 49-run first-wicket stand before a mini-collapse saw South Africa reduced to 71/3 with Aiden Markram (0) also failing yet again, not being able to convert his imperious T20 form to the 50-over arena.
That, however, allowed De Kock and Heinrich Klaasen to stabilise SA’s innings with a 39-run partnership, before Bishnoi trapped De Kock plumb in front.
There was no further success for India, though, with Miller and Klaasen combining in perfect tandem for the remainder of the innings. Klaasen, playing in his first match of the tour, did not miss a beat in his 65-ball 74 (6x4, 2x6).
Miller was not to be undone though, as he matched Klaasen shot-for-shot and also finished unbeaten on 75 off 63 balls (5x4, 3x6) as the pair powered the visitors to 249/4 through their 139-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
India’s reply began in the worst possible fashion with Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell striking with the new ball by removing both Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan within 5.1 overs to reduce the hosts to 8/2.
Shreyas Iyer tried valiantly to keep the hosts in the hunt with a 37-ball half-century before Sanju Samson and Thakur made SA sweat at the backend with a 93-run partnership off 66 balls before Lungi Ngidi (3/52) picked up two wickets in successive balls.
India required 31 off Tabraiz Shamsi's final over and despite Samson's heroics in smashing 20 runs, it was not enough for the hosts as SA held for a nine-run victory in the first one-day international.
* The Proteas suffered a blow to their T20 World Cup chances on Thursday when all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius was ruled out with a fracture to his left thumb. A replacement has yet to be named.
Scorecard
SA: 249/4 (Miller 75*, Klaasen 74*, De Kock 48, Thakur 2/35)
India: 240/8 (Samson 86*, Iyer 50, Ngidi 3/52, Rabada 2/36)