India made an astonishing recovery to snatch a one-run victory over SA in the second ODI at the Wanderers Stadium to level the five-match series at one match each. Munaf Patel took two wickets in what proved to be the final over to finish with four for 29, with Yuvraj Singh taking a low catch at gully to end the match. After being bowled out for 190, India restricted SA to 189. Munaf combined with Zaheer Khan who accounted for two dismissals, to script a historic win as fortunes ebbed and flowed throughout the SA innings.
Smallest victory margin in India vs Sri Lanka ODIs belongs to India, with their 1 run win at Khettarama stadium in Colombo on 25 July 1993. Invited to bat first, Indians suffered a middle order collapse after a solid 77 run stand for opening wicket between Manoj Prabhakar and Navjot Sidhu and eventually scored 212. Chasing a moderately small 213, Lankans were 161/2 before being 211 all out against the likes of Rajesh Chauhan, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath who all took 2 wickets each.
South Africa's dogged tail-enders nearly gatecrashed India's party in the first ODI at Jaipur in 2010 before Dhoni and his team eked out a nail-biting one-run victory to go 1-0 up in the three-match series. SA needed 10 runs of the last over sent down by Praveen Kumar and eventually a boundary off the last ball. Praveen then came up with the final delivery and a desperate Parnell, going for two runs, ran himself out as the Proteas finished just one run short of India's total. Put into bat, India had posted 298 for nine.
On a seaming Wellington wicket in March 1990, India carved out a nail-biting 1 wicket win over the Kiwis, with Indian pacers doing the demolition work. Batting first, India made 221 in a maximum of 49 overs with mercurial all-rounder Kapil Dev being the highest run-getter with a fighting 46. India were defending a moderate 222 but superb seam bowling from Manoj Prabhakar, Kapil Dev and Atul Wassan restricted the home team with Kapil Dev dealing the last blow by bowling out Richard Hadlee for 46 in the last over.
India and Zimbabwe already had a tied game between them in India in Indore in 1993. During the Standard Bank International ODI Series in South Africa, the teams finished at par again. Zimbabwe batted first in this day/night fixture at Boland Park and reached a competitive total – 236/8 off the allotted 50 overs. Chasing 237 for a win, Indian wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, but Robin Singh gave India hope and pummelled 48 runs from 31 balls. He was run out off the penultimate ball and the scores were tied.
