3rd ODI: Proteas complete series whitewash to cap Indias torrid SA tour

South Africa defeated India by four runs in the third and final ODI in Cape Town on Sunday to complete a 3-0 series whitewash and cap their dominance in the Men in Blue’s torrid tour to the Rainbow Nation. 

After surrendering a 1-0 lead to lose the Test series 2-1, India were overpowered in all three ODIs as the hosts sent out a warning sign to any doubting their ability to challenge the superpowers during a phase of rebuilding. 

Chasing a target of 288 runs , India were handed an early setback when opener and captain KL Rahul (9) was dismissed by Lungi Ngidi. Shikhar Dhawan (61) and Virat Kohli (65) scored fifties to stabilise the innings with a 98-run stand. 

Andile Phehlukwayo then struck to dismiss Rishabh Pant for a golden duck, before a soft dismissal saw Keshav Maharaj remove former skipper Kohli, just as he did in the second ODI. A shorter and quicker delivery caught Kohli by surprise, ballooning up in the air after catching his leading edge for skipper Temba Bavuma to catch. 

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Shreyas Iyer (26) and Suryakumar Yadav (39) were the next to fall, before Deepak Chahar (54) brought up a quickfire fifty to bring the visitors close to victory. However, the Proteas hit back with Lungi Ngidi removing Chahar, after he sent Jayant Yadav (2) packing to ease the pressure. 

Jasprit Bumrah (12) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2) were dismissed in the final two overs as South Africa wrapped up the win. 

Earlier, Quinton de Kock slammed the 17th century of his ODI career to help South Africa get to a winning total. The ton was his sixth against India in ODIs, taking the southpaw level with AB de Villiers for the record of most ODI centuries against South Africa for India. 

The 29-year-old was named the player of the match as well as the player of the series for his exploits. De Kock has scores of 27, 78, 124 in the three ODIs. 

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De Kock anchored the innings after India got three quick wickets – with Jasprit Bumrah removed Janneman Malan, a sharp throw from Rahul got Bavuma run out and Chahar dismissed Aiden Markram to leave the hosts reeling at 70 for the loss of three.

De Kock shared a 144-run stand for the fourth wicket with Rassie van der Dussen (52). David Miller (39) and Dwayne Pretorius also chipped in with notable contributions but India managed to restrict the hosts to below 300.