IND vs SA: 3rd ODI Review – Spinners shine in India’s big seven-wicket win
India won the third and last ODI match against South Africa to win the three-match home series by 2-1 on Tuesday. Indian spinners put an impressive display to bowl out the visitors on just 99 runs while bowling first and then batters were eased to the target in 19.1 overs with seven wickets remaining.
Indian captain Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and elected to bowl first at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. India made no changes to their winning squad from the second match but the visitors rested their stand-in captain Keshav Maharaj for this fixture, with David Miller handling the reins. Washington Sundar dismissed star opener Quinton de Kock in the third over to give hosts a flying start.
South African batters struggled for big shots against the Indian spin attack and were never threatened with a meaningful partnership throughout the innings. Heinrich Klassen scored the highest 34 off 42 but his teammates failed to make any impact. Kuldeep Yadav took four wickets while conceding 18 runs and Sundar and Shahbaz Ahmed grabbed two wickets each to bowl out South Africa on 99/10 in 27.1 overs.
Indian openers started well with a quick 42-run partnership for the first wicket to avoid any surprises. Dhawan was run out on just eight runs in the seventh over. The young batter Ishan Kishan was promoted to bat in the number three position ahead of Shreyas Iyer but lost his wicket on just 10 runs in the 11th over.
But Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer formed a 39-run partnership for the third wicket to guide India closer to the target. Gill missed a half-century by just one run as he bowled out on Lungi Ngidi’s delivery when India needed only three runs to win.
Iyer scored 28* and ended the match with a big six in the 20th over. Kuldeep won the player of the match award for his four for 18 runs spell and Iyer grabbed player of the series for scoring 191 runs in this series with the help of one hundred and a fifty.
Top performers from the match:
Kuldeep Yadav:
Indian spinner took four wickets, including two back-to-back wickets, to end South Africa’s innings on just 99/8. Kuldeep conceded 18 runs from his 4.1 overs spell and bowled one maiden over as well.
Washington Sundar:
The young bowling all-rounder took two big wickets of Quinton de Kock and David Miller and conceded only 15 runs from his four-over spell.
What’s next for both team?
India next face Pakistan in their opening clash at the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 at Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23. South Africa face New Zealand in their next clash on October 17 in Brisbane.
