South Africa 272 for 7 (Rhodes 98, Pollock 57*, Akram 3-19) beat Pakistan 140 by 132 runs
Scorecard

South African stormed all over Pakistan in the first one-day international at Durban, battering them by 132 runs with an outstanding team performance. Jonty Rhodes made a fabulous 98, and Shaun Pollock belted 57 not out as the last seven overs went for 75. Then, to complete a dazzling allround performance, Pollock pitched in with 3 for 12 as Pakistan were demolished for 140. Only Salim Elahi, who made 31, even managed to reach 20.

Waqar Younis's decision to bowl first looked a good one when South Africa slipped to 86 for 4 – but from there it was one-way traffic, relentless and inexorable. The only consolation for Waqar was his 400th ODI wicket. He is only the second person, after Wasim Akram, to achieve the feat.

Wasim himself bowled imperiously here, taking 3 for 19 in ten overs of class and cunning, while all around him were disappearing around the park. He started with the wicket of Herschelle Gibbs, squared up by a beauty that he edged to Rashid Latif (6 for 1). It was Gibbs's third duck in his last six one-dayers.

Then a succession of batsmen fell on the pull stroke. Neil McKenzie made 11 before depositing Mohammad Sami's first ball to midwicket (33 for 2), and the pinch-hitter Nicky Boje top-edged the same bowler straight up in the air after racing to 20 (63 for 3).

Jacques Kallis never really got going, and after making 6 off 18 balls he pulled Abdul Razzaq straight to square-leg. Enter Rhodes, who grasped the nettle as Graeme Smith played a mature innings at the other end. Rhodes was at his most hyperactive, pulling fiercely despite the demise of the top order and scampering furiously between the wickets.

He dominated a partnership of 65 in 12 overs before Smith (56) was yorked by Akram, who two balls later had another wicket when Mark Boucher dragged one on. At that stage South Africa were 151 for 6 in the 33rd over and struggling, but Rhodes and Pollock thrashed 99 for the sixth wicket in 16 overs. Rhodes' 50 came off 63 balls – and then he went ballistic. His last 29 deliveries brought 48 runs, including two big sixes, before he gave Waqar his magic moment with a leading-edge to Latif.

The torture wasn't over, though: Pollock mowed Razzaq for two sixes in the last over, which went for 20. It was mayhem at the death, and left Pakistan needing a record second-innings total on this ground.

They never looked like getting there, with Pollock and Makhaya Ntini asphyxiating them from the start. Ntini slipped a good one through to bowl Taufeeq Umar for 7 (19 for 1), and all eyes turned to Yousuf Youhana, who averaged 405 in the recent series in Zimbabwe. He made just 8 before Allan Donald duped him with the slower ball, which Youhana scooped gently to mid-off (36 for 2).

Inzamam-ul-Haq didn't last long, dragging Kallis lazily back onto his stumps for 11 (55 for 3), and Kallis took the plaudits again with a fine one-handed catch at slip as Elahi tried to glide Ntini to third man (78 for 4).

Younis Khan made 17 – and was given a life – before lofting Boje (3 for 29) to the off-side sweeper (100 for 5). By then the required rate was nearly nine an over, and the match petered out gently, apart from successive, smeared sixes by Akram off Boje.

Take away those pesky Australians, and South Africa have now won 60 of their last 70 completed one-dayers at home. By anyone's standards, that's an outstanding ratio, and one that bodes well for the World Cup on their own patch next year.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd