On the ‘Pink Day’ at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, South Africa were left red-faced.

Wearing pink jerseys, the home side surrendered to the pace of Arshdeep Singh (5/37) and Avesh Khan (4/27) to lose the first ODI by eight wickets on Sunday.

The Wanderers pitch did have something in it for the quicks early on and the South Africans, opting to bat first after winnng the toss, once again read the conditions wrong. Having the ability to excel in helpful conditions, all that Arshdeep needed then was to get his length right while a little bit of swing was already on offer.

The left-armer did exactly so and extracted a little bit of movement, picking up his maiden five-for and importantly, ticking the wickets column in 50-over cricket after going wicketless in his two bowling innings prior to this game. With solid help from pace colleague Avesh, Arshdeep was pivotal in India bundling South Africa out for just 116 in 27.3 overs.

The game was practically over in the first half itself. But even then, opening alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad, young batter Sai Sudharsan (55 not out off 43 balls) ensured to make his international debut count.

Shreyas Iyer (52 off 45 balls), in his only ODI appearance before joining the rest of the Test squad, also had a good batting practice as India romped home with 200 balls to spare.

The annual ‘Pink Day’, which is an initiative by Cricket South Africa to raise breast-cancer awareness, usually leads to a festive atmosphere at the ground. A packed house had turned up on Sunday as well, but for the South African fans, the Proteas’ pathetic show with the bat, especially the indifference of some of their batters, ruined the home crowd's mood.

For example, a player David Miller’s calibre and experience threw his bat at a wide’ish length ball and was caught behind, gifting Avesh his third wicket when South Africa were already reeling at 58/6 in the 13th over. Captain Aiden Markram tried to work a delivery from Avesh that nipped in towards third man and played it onto his stumps.

That said, credit has to be given to Arshdeep for exploiting the South African batters’ technical deficiencies.

Heinrich Klaasen, irrespective of his ability to execute monstrous hits, isn’t too apt in terms of footwork. Arshdeep pitched one on the middle-and-leg stump and brought it in just a shade. Stuck on the back foot, Klaasen seemed clueless about the line of the ball as it went through his defences.

He could be expensive at times, but if conditions offer good purchase for fast bowlers, Arshdeep once again proved that he is quite capable of making that count.