HYDERABAD (India), Nov 16: Jacques Kallis hit an unbeaten 68 as South Africa overcame a fighting India by five wickets on Wednesday to grab a 1-0 lead in the five-match limited-overs series.

Skipper Graeme Smith scored 48 off 36 balls at the start of the innings and Ashwell Prince chipped in with 46 as the tourists overtook India’s 249-9 with seven deliveries to spare.

Justin Kemp remained unbeaten on a typically brisk 46 off 51 balls after adding 84 in a match-winning sixth-wicket stand with Kallis.

The victory took South Africa’s unbeaten streak to 20 matches — 17 wins, two no-results and one tie — and left them just one short of equalling Australia’s world record of 21 consecutive wins in 2003.

India were in danger of a heavy defeat when they slipped to 5-3 within the first 15 minutes of play and soon became 35-5 after given first strike on a damp wicket.

Yuvraj Singh then hit 103, his fifth one-day century, to lead a superb Indian fightback before some 35,000 home fans at the brand new Rajiv Gandhi stadium on the outskirts of the city.

Yuvraj put on 75 for the sixth wicket with Irfan Pathan (46) and 49 for the seventh with Mahendra Dhoni (17) as the wicket dried out under the hot sun.

Tailender Harbhajan Singh smashed an unbeaten 37 off 17 balls, studded with two sixes and four boundaries, as India plundered 52 runs in the last four overs bowled by Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel.

South Africa were 76-1 in reply in the 12th over when India hit back with the wickets of Justin Ontong and Smith off successive deliveries from Ajit Agarkar and Rudra Pratap Singh.

Kallis kept his cool to add 84 for the fourth wicket with Prince before the big-hitting Kemp joined in to steer the South Africans home.

The morning dew played havoc with the Indian innings as Virender Sehwag fell off the seventh ball of the day, Mohammad Kaif in the third over and Sachin Tendulkar in the fifth.

Yuvraj, who hit 10 boundaries and three sixes, was run out in the 48th over.

Scoreboard

India:

V. Sehwag c Prince b Ntini 1

S. Tendulkar c Boucher b Pollock 2

Mohammad Kaif lbw b Pollock 1

R. Dravid b Nel 8

Y. Singh run out 103

G. Gambhir c Boucher b Ntini 1

Irfan Pathan b Botha 46

M. Dhoni run out 17

A. Agarkar c Kemp b Nel 21

H. Singh not out 37

R. Singh not out 1

Extras: (b1, lb3, w4, nb3) 11

Total (for nine wickets, 50 overs) 249

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-4, 3-5, 4-34, 5-35, 6-110, 7-159, 8-198, 9-227.

Bowling: Pollock 10-1-37-2, Ntini 10-1-62-2, Nel 10-2-45-2, Langeveldt 8-0-34-0, Botha 6-0-31-1, Kallis 6-0-36-0.

South Africa:

G. Smith b R. Singh 48

A. de Villiers lbw b Agarkar 7

J. Ontong c Dravid b Agarkar 11

J. Kallis not out 68

A. Prince c Sehwag b Harbhajan 46

M. Boucher c Dravid b Tendulkar 2

J. Kemp not out 46

Extras: (lb5, w13, nb6) 24

Total (for five wickets, 48.5) 252

Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-76, 3-76, 4-165, 5-168

Bowling: Pathan 6-1-51-0, Agarkar 9.5-1-55-2, R. Singh 7-1-18-1, Harbhajan 10-0-33-1, Sehwag 3-0-18-0, Tendulkar 8-0-43-1, Yuvraj 5-0-29-0

Super-subs: G. Gambhir (IND) replaced M. Kartik in 11th over of India’s innings; Justin Ontong (RSA) replaced C. Langeveldt in sixth over of South Africa’s innings.

Umpires: Daryl Harper (AUS) and Krishna Hariharan (IND)

TV umpire: Ivaturi Shivram (IND)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

Remaining matches: Bangalore (Nov 19), Chennai (Nov 22), Kolkata (Nov 25), Mumbai (Nov 28).—AFP

Harbhajan fined