Graeme Smith hails South Africa after demolition of India

Graeme Smith hails South Africa after demolition of India

• South Africa beat India by 135 runs in first ODI
• Tsotsobe takes man-of-the-match award in Durban

Lonwabo Tsotsobe, South Africa's man of the match
against India, is congratulated by

team-mates after dismissing Sachin
Tendulkar. Photograph: Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images


Graeme Smith hailed the "complete performance" from his South Africa
side after they romped to an emphatic 135-run victory in the first
one-day international against India in Durban.AB de Villiers
(76), JP Duminy (73) and Hashim Amla (50) all hit half-centuries to help
the hosts set 290 for victory, but the visitors wilted under the
pressure of chasing to eventually crumble for 154.Lonwabo
Tsotsobe grabbed four wickets to earn the man-of-the-match award, while
Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn also took two wickets each as the Proteas
went 1-0 up in the five-match series."It was a pretty complete
performance," Smith said. "It was a lot better certainly then what I
expected coming into the game. I think the AB and JP partnership was key
after Hash [Amla] played so well."I thought beforehand that
290-300 was always going to be a tough score to chase down, especially
with all the rain about in recent days, which made the outfield slower."The
South Africa captain also lauded his bowlers, adding: "I thought we
were superb with the ball tonight. The attack as a whole bowled really
well. Lopsy [Tsotsobe] up front led with great skill and good bounce. So
there were a lot of positives tonight and we obviously want to keep
building on this."India's captain MS Dhoni felt Ashish Nehra's
expensive spell during the home side's innings was crucial. The left-arm
fast bowler conceded 61 runs in his six overs."[We were]
completely outplayed," Dhoni said. "They got off to a very good start.
We were playing with four bowlers and quite a few part-timers. Ashish
also had a bad day, which meant that in the middle we had to bowl close
to 15 overs, so we were under pressure."In response only Virat
Kohli, with 54, managed any significant contribution and Dhoni added:
"We were suppose to chase and I don't think we got the start that was
needed because we are always a side that banks on a good start, wickets
in hand and then we look to chase even eight or nine runs an over. But
it never really happened for us in this game."The two sides meet in the second game in Johannesburg on Saturday.