(Cricket news) South Africa have clinched the 3 match series 2-1 with a 7 wicket victory in the 3rd Test at Cape Town. The day started with South Africa needing 111 runs with 8 wickets in hand. Keegan Peterson unbeaten on 48 was joined by Rassie van der Dussen.

The pair batted out the tricky first hour or so really well. Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah came out all guns blazing but the Proteas were very resilient. The pair put together 54 runs and by the time Shardul Thakur dismissed Peterson on 82 it seemed like South Africa had already ran away with the game. India failed to take another wicket as Temba Bavuma and van der Dussen guided South Africa to victory. India bowled well just like they have done for the entire series but in the end they kept giving a few looseners which are too costly especially while defending a small total.

India's batting were just not up to the mark in this series. KL Rahul in the first innings of the first Test and Rishabh Pant in the last innings of the last Test were the only big innings by an Indian. Their bowlers failed to rescue them this time around. This might be the last time we see Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane play Test cricket for India and for the better. It might be time to give more chances to Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari. 

The fact that India were favourites going into the series and even before the last Test shows the prowess of this Indian side. Having said that they did lose this series convincingly which clearly shows that there is a lot of work to be done. India had a lot of bad luck especially in the last Test which has led to the downfall. The decision of going with 5 bowlers and not giving Ashwin a lot of overs has also had its effect on the result. India will now look to put all this behind and prepare for the ODIs.

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