Summary South Africa all out for 305 in response to 331-7 by India in opening match of Champions Trophy.
CARDIFF (AP) - South Africa were jolted early by the loss of Ingram and Amla.
However, Peterson was promoted up the order and it paid rich dividends as South Africa maintained a healthy scoring rate.
Peterson notched up his maiden fifty while de Villiers notched up his 33rd ODI fifty.
However, a brilliant piece of fielding from Ravindra Jadeja resulted in the run-out of Peterson and South Africa never recovered.
Ryan McLaren fought on till the end but there was no support for him as South Africa lost the match by 26 runs. This is not the start South Africa had hoped for but India will be very happy.
Interesting Stat: With this win, India have managed to win all their matches against South Africa in the Champions Trophy. Both these teams have played each other three times and India have won all three.
Shikhar Dhawan hit his maiden one-day international century as India began the Champions Trophy in ominous fashion, posting 331-7 against South Africa in the tournament curtain-raiser at Sophia Gardens.
Lifting the gloom in Indian cricket amid a spot-fixing scandal back home, the left-handed Dhawan struck 12 fours and a six in a 94-ball 114 after sharing a 127-run partnership with fellow opener Rohit Sharma (65).
Ravindra Jadeja weighed in with 47 not out off 29 balls as runs continued to flow through to the end of the innings under sunny skies in south Wales.
The South African attack, missing spearhead Dale Steyn because of a side strain, took regular wickets in the final 16 overs but bowled far too short and couldn t prevent the world champions racking up a huge total at 6.62 runs an over in the Group B match. Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Rory Kleinveldt both went for more than 80 off their 10 overs, and Morne Morkel went off with a left groin strain midway through his seventh over, leaving Ryan McLaren to claim team-best figures of 3-70.
India has turned to youth this tournament as it looks ahead to the defense of its world title in 2015 and Dhawan is among those to benefit, with long-time openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir left at home along with a raft of experienced players, including Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan.
Dhawan exploded onto the test scene against Australia in Mohali in March by making 187 off 174 balls for the fastest century by a debutant and he s now made his mark in the limited-overs format, setting a fierce pace with Sharma in only his sixth ODI as the openers punished a slew of poor deliveries.
Sharma fell when he pulled McLaren to Robin Petersen but there was no stopping Dhawan, who completed his hundred with his latest pull to the ropes for his 12th boundary. Taking his helmet off, he revealed his trademark twirled moustache and earring as he took in the acclaim of the rapturous Indian fans.
AB de Villiers botched an easy chance to stump Dhawan the following over when the batsman came way out of crease to JP Duminy but misjudged the flight of the ball. Instead, it was Virat Kohli next to go, Hashim Amla taking a good catch near the boundary from a pull off McLaren.
By that time, the Proteas attack had lost Morkel to an injury that could threaten his participation this tournament and the arrival of the in-form Dinesh Karthik gave them another headache.
