South Africa made a clean sweep of the three-match ODI series with a four-run win over India in the third ODI here on Sunday.
Despite late heroics from Deepak Chahar who scored a 34-ball 54, India fell short of South Africa’s 287-run total.
India were bowled out for 283 with Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan scoring 65 and 61 runs respectively. For the hosts, Andile Phehlukwayo and Lungi Ngidi bagged three wickets each while Dwaine Pretorius claimed two.
Earlier, India had rallied to bowl out South Africa after opener Quinton de Kock struck an attacking century and Rassie van der Dussen continued his sublime form with a 52-run knock.
De Kock struck 124 off 130 balls and added 144 runs for the fourth wicket with van der Dussen before India put the brakes on the home team’s scoring by sending back both the batters in quick succession. The home team has already taken a winning 2-0 lead in the series.
After that, David Miller contributed a 38-ball 39 before the innings ended with a ball to spare.
With his sixth ODI century, de Kock equalled AB de Villiers’ record of scoring the most hundreds against India by a South African.
KL Rahul’s decision to bowl first worked straightaway as Deepak Chahar (2/53) had opener Janneman Malan (1) caught behind with just eight runs on the board at the start of the third over.
It was a big wicket for the Indians as Malan came into the inconsequential final ODI on the back of a neat 91-run knock in the Proteas’ series-clinching second ODI win at Paarl.
And credit for that must go to Chahar who got his fullish delivery to move away after angling it in, leaving Malan clueless.
A direct hit from India skipper KL Rahul from mid-off, ended his in-form counterpart Temba Bavuma’s brief stay in the middle as the batter failed to reach the non-striker’s end in time.
Bavuma making his way back to the dressing room for eight runs was another big break for India as the South Africa captain had scored a century in the opening fixture and also looked solid in the second outing.
After bagging two wickets in the powerplay, India seemed to be headed in the right direction when Aiden Markram’s attempted pull shot failed to clear substitute fielder Ruturaj Gaikwad in the deep square leg region, leaving the hosts at 70 for three in the 13th over.
