SA vs IND: 3rd ODI Review – Protea whitewash India in a thriller
The third and final match of the ODI series between South Africa and India took place on January 23 at Newlands in Cape Town. Though the contest was a dead rubber, South Africa looked ruthless and registered the whitewash by winning the final match by four runs. Winning the toss, KL Rahul called his men to take the field with the ball first.
The entire limelight in the batting setup of South Africa was bagged by ace batter Quinton de Kock who boosted the team’s scoreboard with his stunning century (124 off 130). Rassie van der Dussen shined once again with the bat while bringing his half-century to the table (52 off 59) which pushed the host nation to put 287 runs on the board.
Deepak Chahar who made his way in the third ODI picked two wickets alongside Jasprit Bumrah. However, Prasidh Krishna also marked his way in the XI today and shined with the ball to pick three wickets while conceding at 6.00.
As soon as India came to chase, Rahul went back without marking any significant contribution but his senior partner Shikhar Dhawan talked with the bat once again while smashing a half-century (61 off 73). The wait for Virat Kohli’s 71st century continued even today but he made sure to make a mark with his yet another fifty (65 off 84).
It was looking like quite a chance for India while Deepak Chahar was on the crease as he pulled off another half-century (54 off 34) under intense pressure but it ended in the losing cause. After Chahar went off, India were absolutely clueless and remained short by four runs while getting wrapped up on 283 runs.
South African bowlers remained on point yet again while clinching wickets at regular intervals. Andile Phehlukwayo and Lungi Ngidi picked three wickets each while refusing to leak runs in bulk. Dwaine Pretorius also picked two wickets for South Africa in their quest to register a daunting whitewash over India in the ODIs.
Top Performers
Quinton de Kock
De Kock was in stunning touch on the day for South Africa. Opening the innings, he carried on till the 36th over of the innings to put his team in a commanding position. He scored an authoritative 124 off 130 balls also bailing SA out of trouble from 70/3. His innings was studded with 12 fours and 2 sixes which eventually helped SA win the game.
Deepak Chahar
After warming the bench for the first two ODIs, Deepak Chahar finally got his chance in the dead rubber. And he made sure to make his mark. He picked up two wickets with the ball including that of Janneman Malan with a brilliant swinging delivery. Then he smashed an enterprising 54 off 34 balls to open the doors of a win for India. But he will regret playing a wrong shot, however, that doesn’t take anything away from his excellent all-round show.
What next?
India will next face West Indies in a white-ball series at home next month while the Proteas will travel to New Zealand for a two-match Test series.
