It may have been transition and pitches in the Tests, but South Africa clearly didn't see the need to stop there. Their four-wicket series-levelling win in Raipur now gives them a genuine shot at sneaking the ODI series too. With Temba Bavuma and Keshav Maharaj back from their rest, the visitors overcame a wayward start with the ball and an average day in the field to mow down 359, the joint-highest successful ODI chase against India.

Here are the talking points from the game:

What made the difference?

India had two centurions; South Africa had one. India had a mammoth 195-run stand; South Africa's best was 101. But the difference was in how relentless South Africa were. India's next-best partnership was 69 for the sixth wicket and it came off 54 balls, which kept them afloat but never really let them cash in at the death, suggesting the need of a power-hitter lower down the order.

South Africa, meanwhile, stitched together two fifty-plus stands to go with the one century stand between Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma, and kept the chase on a leash all evening, admittedly in conditions made much easier by the heavy dew in attendance.

Kohli continues to churn the hundreds out

53rd ODI hundred. 84th international hundred. And the two in this series haven't even come while chasing. He'd mentioned in Ranchi that he only turns up when he's at 120%, but in Raipur he looked well beyond that. He got off the mark with a pulled six off Lungi Ngidi and then ran 45 singles, sprinkled in 7 fours and 2 sixes, and celebrated like he was 22 again, leaping and punching it like Raipur was his first hundred.

2027 World Cup? 100 international hundreds? One is definitely on the cards, the other... let's just say it doesn't look impossible at this point in time.

Ruturaj tons up... finally

Did someone say he's still searching for his spark? Well, a consistent run would have helped and that showed in his record coming into this match: 123 runs in seven innings, an average of 17.57, a high score of 71, and five single-digit dismissals. Not exactly confidence-building material.

But given two back-to-back ODIs in this series, Ruturaj needed no time to find his range. A 77-ball hundred, brought up with a pull wide of mid-on, felt like a gentle reminder of what happens when he's allowed to just be. Also a handy moment to remember that he's not a natural No.4 and that he was preferred over Rishabh Pant in this XI.

India can't win a toss

Different captains, different venues, even different formats but India's toss luck, or lack thereof, continues to be the same. In ODIs, they last won a toss in the 2023 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand at Wankhede. That's over two years ago. Sure, they haven't played a lot of ODIs since but going winless across 20 consecutive tosses is still staggering.

For context: the probability of losing 20 tosses in a row is 1 in 1,048,576 (0.00000095). That's about as unlikely as rolling a six eight times in a row with a fair die. Go figure.

SA mend their ways

They were 11/3 chasing 350 in Ranchi, but by the time the second ODI in Raipur came around, South Africa had clearly learnt their lesson. Aiden Markram, who went on to make his first century as an opener, and Temba Bavuma dialled back the early aggression, adding only 52 runs in the first 10 overs but crucially ensuring no wickets fell after Quinton de Kock.

A century stand at just over a run a ball gave them the platform they desperately lacked in Ranchi. And even though they wobbled again at the end, with Dewald Brevis throwing away a good start and Tony de Zorzi hobbling off with what looked like cramps/hamstring trouble, they still had enough of a head start to haul down a 350-plus chase.

No field day for India in the middle

Aiden Markram was on 53 when he miscued one against Kuldeep Yadav and offered a regulation catch at long-on, but Yashasvi Jaiswal couldn't quite hold on. India's fielding was a string of small misfields and barring a flying stop from Tilak Varma in the deep, which was more a six saved than a catch missed, there wasn't much to highlight from the hosts. And while defending a target with a ball as wet as a bar of soap, they needed something special. They couldn't quite produce it.