South Africa win see-saw thriller to inflict whitewash on lackluster India

(Cricket news) South Africa defeated India by just 4 runs in the last over to seal the series 3-0. India played much better than they did in the last two ODIs but it still wasn't enough. The game was a rollercoaster ride where the momentum was constantly shifting.

KL Rahul won the toss and put South Africa into bat. Quinton de Kock continued his great form and scored a magnificent 124 off 130 balls. Rassie van der Dussen chipped in with a 59 ball 52 as South Africa were bowled out for 287 runs. Prasidh Krishna picked up 3 wickets while Deepak Chahar and Jasprit Bumrah got 2 each. Yuzvendra Chahal got the crucial wicket of van der Dussen while Jayant Yadav went wicketless. Shreyas Iyer was used as a 6th bowler as he bowled 3 overs.

The target of 288 was definitely chase-able. Lungi Ngidi picked up KL Rahul's wicket early on. Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan than had a partnership of 98 runs before Dhawan was out after a well made 61. Rishabh Pant stepped out and tried to slog the first ball and ended up throwing his wicket away in the first ball. Virat Kohli looked in good touch as he scored 65 off 84 balls but was once again dismissed by Keshav Maharaj. 

Shreyas Iyer and Surya Kumar scored 26 and 39 runs respectively but were dismissed as India looked to be out of the game. Deepak Chahar smashed a 34 ball 54 hitting 5 fours and 2 sixes to turn things around. He then threw his wicket away leaving India with 10 runs required off 17 balls with 2 wickets in hand. Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal were dismissed before India could chase down the total. 

Quinton de Kock was named the man of the match for his blistering century. The game would have been one for the ages if it was a series decider or the first had anything apart from pride on the line but because the series result was already decided it wouldn't reach the hype. India will now have to sort things out quickly as they host West Indies for 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs.

Also read: Smriti Mandhana wins ICC women's Cricketer of the Year

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