MS Dhoni accepted his share of the blame after India failed to close out victory in a five-run defeat to South Africa in the first one-day international on Sunday.

India needed 11 runs off the last over to claim victory in Kanpur after Rohit Sharma's 150 had put the hosts in position to chase down a target of 304 that South Africa set thanks in part to AB de Villiers' unbeaten 104.

But the India skipper could not deliver, giving away his wicket as he was caught and bowled by Kagiso Rabada (2-58) for 31, with Stuart Binny (2) dismissed with the next delivery. 

India finished on 298-7, leaving Dhoni to lament his inability to finish things off at Green Park.

He said: "Yes, when you bat down the order you have to take the blame especially because of the fact that when you finish many games, people always remember the ones you have not finished.

"It's [hitting the winning runs] not an easy job, it doesn't always work your way, especially you know, you have to play the big shot.

"At times [when] the wicket is great and is coming on nicely to the bat, more often than not, you use the pace of the bowler and get away with it.

"But [on] the wickets like these where the average bounce is a bit low, they can still hit the deck hard and the ball doesn't really bounce as much as it should. So it becomes slightly difficult."

Despite the defeat, Dhoni, who lost spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to a side strain, added: "There are a lot of positives that I can take out of this game.

"We need to give credit to our players given the fact that you missed one of your main bowlers [for] six, seven or eight overs, it is not easy to bowl [and make up for that], especially if you have to bowl after the 30th over onwards.

"The way we started, Rohit and Ajinkya's [Rahane] partnership in the middle and the way Rohit carried on even after getting a hundred. It was hot and humid, but overall the way he batted and carried on, that was very remarkable."