1. Lest We Forget
Given all the talk about this series had been about the future - specifically the World Cup - it was apt that the first match served up the sort of thriller that brought the present back to the forefront of everyone's minds. Had Wayne Parnell and Dale Steyn not put on 65 for the ninth wicket in 39 balls then the match would have fizzled out and the Proteas might have gone back to talking about 'combinations'. Instead we had the sort of finish that reminded us we have two evenly matches sides with healthy dollops of quality, and the remaining two clashes have taken on added intrigue.

2. India's Good
If these matches are about working out bench strength for India, then they had a few encouraging signs. The experienced trio of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni managed just 76 runs between them, yet India were able to post 298 as Dinesh Karthik looked dangerous, Virat Kohli batted with class and Suresh Raina top-scored. With 87 ODIs to his name Raina barely qualifies as a bench player, but what was encouraging was the way the 23-year-old ushered the middle order along once the big names had departed. The biggest star, though, was Ravindra Jadeja, who grows more impressive with each passing game.

3. Rising Star
In fact it was Jadeja's introduction after just nine overs which turned the match. South Africa had been flying along at 60 for one with Herschelle Gibbs and Loots Bosman responsible for most of those runs, but without pace on the ball Gibbs suddenly looked all at sea. A maiden from Jadeja to Gibbs switched the pressure onto the batting side, and in his next over the left-armer had Gibbs caught at long-off as he tried to force the pace. Whether the introduction of Jadeja in the first powerplay was an inspired decision or merely a last resort, it certainly exposed South Africa's weakness. Scoring off the slower bowlers must now be a priority as far as improvements in the Proteas camp go.

4. Opportunity Lost
The Proteas practised at the ground yesterday evening, so when they won the toss and elected to field first it was clear that they'd seen enough dew during that practice to feel that bowling last was a significant disadvantage. They would also have seen the statistics, which showed that five of the seven day-nighters at this ground prior to this match had been won by the side batting second. Getting bogged down by the spinners early on was where the plan went wrong for the Proteas - by the time Yusuf Pathan was firing five wides down legside as he struggled to grip the ball properly, the Proteas were pretty much out of the game.

5. India's Bad
That South Africa came back into it was thanks to superb lower-order hitting from Parnell and Steyn, but equally due to India's chief weakness: death bowling. South Africa shouldn't have had a chance with 92 needed from the last 10 overs and three wickets in hand. Four of the five bowlers used in those last 10 had at least one over that cost more than 10 runs, with Praveen Kumar the only exception as the final over of the match went for eight.