Visakhapatnam, Dec 6: A dominant batting performance led by Yashasvi Jaiswal’s maiden ODI century and a vintage half-century from Virat Kohli powered India to a comprehensive nine-wicket victory over South Africa in the third ODI at the ACA-VDCA Stadium on Saturday, sealing the three-match series 2–1.
Chasing a target of 271, India cruised home with ease as Jaiswal and Kohli stitched together a match-winning partnership. Jaiswal played with maturity and flair to raise his first ODI hundred, while Kohli rolled back the years with an aggressive fifty that included a flurry of boundaries and towering sixes. Earlier, captain Rohit Sharma set the tempo with a quick 75, giving India a flying start to the run chase.
The comfortable chase followed a spectacular bowling effort from Kuldeep Yadav and Prasidh Krishna, who claimed four wickets each to restrict South Africa to 270 all out. Despite a valiant 106 from Quinton de Kock, the visitors suffered a dramatic collapse after his dismissal to Prasidh Krishna. The Indian bowlers tightened the screws in the middle and death overs, preventing South Africa from crossing the 300-run mark—something that had looked likely earlier in the innings.
Toss and Teams
Indian captain KL Rahul won the toss and chose to bowl first in the series-decider, with the series balanced at 1–1 heading into the match.
South Africa Playing XI:
Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman
India Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (wk/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna
Match Highlights
- Quinton de Kock: 106
- Kuldeep Yadav: 4 wickets
- Prasidh Krishna: 4 wickets
- Rohit Sharma: 75
- Yashasvi Jaiswal: Maiden ODI century
- Virat Kohli: Blistering half-century
In the final stages of the chase, Kohli brought up his fifty with back-to-back boundaries and a massive six, while Jaiswal continued to deal in fours as the duo closed out the match in style.
India ultimately completed the chase with plenty of overs to spare, winning by nine wickets to claim the series 2–1.
