3rd ODI: India bowl out South Africa for 287 after de Kock smashes 124

India bowled out South Africa for 287 in the third and final ODI of the series 3-0 at Newlands, Cape Town. Prasidh Krishna took three wickets. 

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Put into bat, opener Quinton de Kock provided South Africa with a solid start. De Kock scored 124 off 130 balls as South Africa looked set to beat India in the third ODI and make a clean sweep.

However, apart from de Kock, the rest of the South African top-order could not do much, with the team losing three wickets for 70 runs. 

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A 144-run fifth-wicket partnership between de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen rescued South Africa from early damage. Van der Dusen scored 51, while David Miller scored 39.

With his sixth ODI century, de Kock equalled AB de Villiers’ record of scoring the most hundreds against India by a South African.

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KL Rahul’s decision to bowl first worked straightaway as Deepak Chahar (2/53) had opener Janneman Malan (1) caught behind with just eight runs on the board at the start of the third over.

It was a big wicket for the Indians as Malan came into the inconsequential final ODI on the back of a neat 91-run knock in the Proteas’ series-clinching second ODI win at Paarl.

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And credit for that must go to Chahar who got his fullish delivery to move away after angling it in, leaving Malan clueless.

A direct hit from India skipper KL Rahul from mid-off, ended his in-form counterpart Temba Bavuma’s brief stay in the middle as the batter failed to reach the non-striker’s end in time.

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Bavuma making his way back to the dressing room for eight runs was another big break for India as the South Africa captain had scored a century in the opening fixture and also looked solid in the second outing.

After bagging two wickets in the powerplay, India seemed to be headed in the right direction when Aiden Markram’s attempted pull shot failed to clear substitute fielder Ruturaj Gaikwad in the deep square leg region, leaving the hosts at 70 for three in the 13th over.

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However, the duo of De Kock and Van der Dussen got together and forged an excellent partnership, mixing caution with aggression to deflate the Indian bowling attack.

De Kock moved into the 90s with two boundaries and then produced a flat-batted six straight over Prasidh Krishna’s (3/59) head.

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But he got stuck on 99 for a while before finally getting to the three-figure mark by driving Shreyas Iyer to the left of sweeper cover for two runs.

Van der Dussen hit Yuzvendra Chahal through mid-wicket for four, as the two upped the ante with their vast range of strokes on all sides of the wicket.

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But just when it looked like the two batters were taking the game away form India, the visitors got rid of both of them.

De Kock got out to a Jasprit Bumrah (2/52) short ball, giving Shikhar Dhawan a simple catch at deep square leg, and then, Chahal had van der Dussen brilliant caught by Iyer in the deep.

Hosts South Africa won the first two ODIs by 31 runs and seven wickets.