Quinton de Kock marked his first game as South Africa's one-day captain with a century and a seven-wicket win over world champion England on Tuesday.
Temba Bavuma was out for 98 after a 173-run partnership with de Kock but despite missing out on a hundred he also made a statement after he was contentiously dropped from South Africa's test team in the recent series against England.
England won that test series 3-1 but didn't have the same success in its first ODI since the dramatic win over New Zealand in a Super Over in the Cricket World Cup final last July.
South Africa put England in to bat at Newlands in Cape Town and had the visitors in real strife at 131-6. England eventually posted 258-8 in its 50 overs. South Africa was 259-3 with two overs and two balls to spare.
Joe Denly, one of just four players remaining from last month's test series triumph, made 87 to lift England out of trouble.
He was helped by Chris Woakes, another man who played that test series, who made 40 off 42 balls. The pair shared a 92-run stand for the seventh wicket.
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South Africa's chase was comfortable, though, after de Kock and Bavuma combined to take the Proteas from 25-1 to 198-2 when de Kock was out bowled by Joe Root for 107. De Kock hit 11 fours and a six, and opened the batting and kept wicket as well as leading the team for the first time after his appointment to succeed Faf du Plessis.
Bavuma's dismissal two short of a century and with his team 25 runs from victory was the only real disappointment for South Africa. He was trapped lbw by Chris Jordan and tried a desperate review. It didn't help him but Bavuma's innings was applauded by the crowd as if it was a century.
The remaining games in the three-match series are in Durban and Johannesburg.