Highlights
- India won the toss and opted to bowl first.
- Kuldeep Yadav took 4 wickets in 4.1 overs.
- Pacer Mohammad Siraj (2/17) too continued his good run.
Led by Kuldeep Yadav with the ball, India steamrolled Proteas to win the 3rd and final ODI by 7 wickets and won the series 2-1.
India won the toss and opted to bowl first. The Indian spin trio of Washington Sundar (2/15), Shahbaz Ahmed (2/32) and Kuldeep Yadav (4/18) picked the right lengths on a slow Kotla pitch and did the bulk of the damage.
Pacer Mohammad Siraj (2/17) too continued his good run to make a strong case for his inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad. While Washington and Shahbaz got wickets upfront, Kuldeep, who missed out on a hat trick, cleaned up the tail. Put to bat, South African batters failed to impress, falling like ninepins.
Also Read: Kuldeep Yadav turns into 'Hulk' vs South Africa in ODIs; here's look his performance vs Porteas
Quinton de Kock (6) was the first to perish as he half-heartedly cut the ball to top-edge it to Avesh Khan at backward point, giving Washington his first wicket. India then seemingly got their second wicket when Reeza Hendricks (3) was trapped leg before but the South African took the review to turn the umpire’s decision in the seventh over.
Janneman Malan (15) smacked Siraj for three of boundaries in his consecutive overs before the pacer got rid of the opener as he tried to play the pull shot. South African batters continued to struggle and looked off-colour as Siraj claimed his second when he got Hendricks (3) next.
Aiden Makram (9), whose stay in the middle lasted 19 balls, became Shahbaz Ahmed’s first victim as he nicked it through to the keeper Sanju Samson. The visitors dallied to 50 in 17.1 overs but India were all over the visitors.
Skipper David Miller (7) and joined Heinrich Klaasen in the middle but he too couldn't make a mark as he was bowled, the ball slid in from round the wicket to clip the outside of the off stump. Brought into the attack in the 20th over, Kuldeep too joined the party as Andile Phehlukwayo failed to read his googly.
Klaassen and new-man Marco Jansen stitched a 22-run stand that included a four and a six to take South Africa closer to the 100-run mark. First, Jansen charged down the pitch for a six-over long-on, a few balls later Klassen hit a boundary but he was dismissed by Shahbaz. Kuldeep then burst with a three-wicket haul clearing up the lower order as South Africa were bowled out in 27.1 overs.
Chasing 100, Gill got India off to a solid start. After Dhawan and Ishan fell early, Iyer joined hands with Gill to take the team home and win the match by 8 wickets. Gill, though, fell just 1 run short of 50 before India won the match.
