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Team India registered a commanding nine-wicket victory over South Africa in the third ODI to clinch the series 2-1. The match was played on Saturday, December 6, at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
After being put in to bat, Quinton de Kock starred for South Africa with a superb century, scoring 106 off 89 deliveries, including eight fours and six sixes. Skipper Temba Bavuma added 48, but the rest of the batting lineup failed to make any significant impact, leading to the visitors being bowled out for 270 in 47.5 overs. For India, Kuldeep Yadav and Prasidh Krishna were the standout performers, each finishing with four wickets.
In reply, Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal laid a perfect foundation with a run-a-ball opening stand of 155. Rohit made 75 off 73 balls, while Jaiswal brought up his maiden ODI century. The left-hander remained unbeaten on 116 from 121 deliveries. Virat Kohli also contributed a fluent half-century, staying not out on 65 off 45 balls, guiding India to victory by nine wickets with 61 balls to spare.
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As India sealed the series with an authoritative win, we look at five notable expert reactions to the achievement.
#1 Harbhajan Singh
Former off-spinner Harbhajan Singh praised India for restricting South Africa to 270, calling it a complete performance from the bowling unit, followed by dominant and regal batting from the top order. Speaking during a discussion on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan said:
“I think the biggest difference today was the right things India did, and the bowling was tremendous. In the previous video, we had talked about how good bowling is very necessary, and the bowling was good, because of which a score of 270 is not really a score in today’s date in ODI cricket. If I talk about it, stopping them at 270 runs was a very big thing. Well done Kuldeep, well done Prasidh, and the rest of the bowlers also bowled almost, almost well. I feel it was an overall complete package by the bowling unit because earlier there were matches of 350 runs and in those matches, there was a lot of pressure on the bowlers.”
“And one more good thing happened today. We won the toss. Won the toss. After 20 matches, we won the toss. After 20 matches, KL wanted to chase and he got to chase, and what a chase it was. But I will give big credit to the bowlers because stopping them at 270 is a very big thing in today’s modern-day cricket. And after that, the batting that happened, man, that was royal batting. Well done. Dominated. Properly dominated,” he added.
#2 Irfan Pathan
Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan remarked that once India finally had the opportunity to bowl first and bat second in the series, the gap between the two teams became evident. He pointed out that the hosts didn’t even let South Africa reach 300 and said on his YouTube channel:
“India have won this series in a convincing manner against South Africa. Today’s toss showed how big the gap really is between these two teams. In the first two matches, South Africa won the toss, and it felt like India won one match and South Africa won the other, so it seemed like South Africa were a good team. But when it became clear from the toss that there is a huge difference between bowling first and bowling second, everything changed.”
“When India finally got the chance to bowl first, they didn’t even allow South Africa to reach 300. In the first two matches, around 1400 runs were scored in total. The difference was massive, and ultimately, on the same wicket, India won this match very easily. Virat Kohli remained unbeaten. Yashasvi Jaiswal also remained unbeaten,” he added.
#3 Kris Srikkanth
Former India opener Kris Srikkanth praised Kuldeep Yadav for his impressive spell of 4/41 in 10 overs and said the spinner deserved the Player of the Match award instead of Yashasvi Jaiswal for changing the game. He also lauded skipper KL Rahul for bringing the best out of Prasidh Krishna. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he said:
“South Africa were going great guns but Kuldeep demolished them. His air speed is fantastic. In my opinion, he should have been the Man of the Match. Though they gave it to Jaiswal, he only brought us back in the match.”
“I'll give credit to KL Rahul. After Prasidh Krishna went for plenty in his first two overs, Rahul spoke with him and said something in Kanada in the lines of 'Do what I say and don't think too much. Bowl stump to stump and don't use your brain too much'. That was fantastic advice. He clearly asked Prasidh Krishna to bowl stump to stump. By doing that he picked up those three wickets and he also bowled very well,” he added.
#4 Zaheer Khan
2011 ODI World Cup winner Zaheer Khan praised India’s bowling unit for finishing the innings strongly and credited the brilliant opening partnership between Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal for putting South Africa completely on the back foot. During a discussion on Cricbuzz, he said:
“Yeah, I think you know the whole game after the 35th over, the scoreline was 218 for five wickets, and then pretty much the momentum shift happened from there. Since then, South Africa just didn't have any opportunity of coming back into the game.”
“The Indian bowlers closed it nicely with the bowling innings, and in the batting innings there was not a single opportunity or a situation where you'd say that South Africa had a chance of coming back. The first block of 10 overs was a crucial one, Yashasvi and Rohit started the innings beautifully, set the tone, carried that momentum of bowling into the batting, and pushed South Africa completely out of the game,” he added.
#5 Sanjay Bangar
Former India assistant coach Sanjay Bangar praised India’s top three, Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Virat Kohli, for the way they approached the chase. Speaking on ‘Cricket Live,’ the JioStar expert said [as quoted by The Tribune]:
"It was a terrific batting display by all three Indian batters. They made full use of the conditions and the dew. What they missed in the first two matches, they got a better pitch here and made the most of it. Both Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal were restrained.”
“They didn't try too hard, just played themselves in. Rohit knew he won't play an international game for 30-40 days, and Yashasvi was finding his rhythm in 50-over cricket. Then when Virat Kohli came in, he decided to give some entertainment. The fluency we saw was terrific to watch. He seems to be on top of his game," he added.
Meanwhile, attention now turns to the five-match T20I series, which begins on December 9 in Cuttack.
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