Quinton de Kock lit up Cape Town with a sensational century – his sixth against India – to lead South Africa towards a strong total on Sunday (January 23). Right from ball one, he came out in attack mode, like he did in the previous ODI; he fell short of a century last game, but made the most of his start and notched up a stellar 130-ball 124, studded with 12 fours and two sixes.
But De Kock’s wicket brought an end to the 144-run stand with Rassie van der Dussen, who fell in the next over as India fought back with quick wickets. Cameos from David Miller and Dwaine Pretorius kept South Africa in the hunt to go past 300, but late wickets meant they were kept to 287.
India made four changes coming into the final one-dayer, seeking a consolation win after having conceded the series 0-2 to South Africa. Leaving out R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur and Venkatesh Iyer, they brought in Suryakumar Yadav, Jayant Yadav, Prasidh Krishna and Deepak Chahar. It didn’t make too much of a difference after opting to bowl as South Africa got off to a steady start.
It was not, however, as good a start as they did in the previous game because they lost three wickets within 13 overs of which, Chahar had two in the powerplay and Temba Bavuma was run-out. Chahar got the ball to swing both ways, getting his lengths right and troubled the batsmen with seven overs on the trot, but de Kock was looking in good touch once again.
Just when it looked like India were on top, de Kock and van der Dussen put their heads down and kept the runs coming. Jayant Yadav could’ve had van der Dussen had Pant hung on to an edge that he got while trying to steer through point. The bowlers bowled fuller to de Kock initially, but were disciplined thereafter with hardly anything over-pitched for a few overs, banging it in short and making it difficult to score. Van der Dussen almost chopped on off Prasidh, but they grew in confidence as the innings progressed.
The two set batsmen fell in successive overs, with van der Dussen having scored his second fifty in five innings at home to go with his two centuries. He fell for 52 off 59, and it was during that phase that made the difference with South Africa scoring 16 runs for the loss of their set batsmen. Miller kept India at bay with a 38-ball 39, while Dwaine Pretorius chipped in with 20, but it was India’s bowlers who shone through towards the end and the regular wickets ensured they kept South Africa well within 300.
The changes India made paid off with Chahar and Prasidh sharing five wickets between them, restricting the damage that could’ve been done had the set pair gone on after having been on 212/3 after the 35th over.
Brief scores: South Africa 287 in 49.5 overs (Quinton de Kock 124, Rassie van der Dussen 52, David Miller 39; Deepak Chahar 2-53, Jasprit Bumrah 2-52, Prasidh Krishna 3-59) vs India.
