It turned out to be a dull end to the series as South Africa failed to put up a fight with the bat at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. A terrific bowling display brought South Africa to their knees as Shikhar Dhawan-led India sealed the series with a seven-wicket win. After their lowest ODI total on Indian soil, it was a walk in the park for India who finished the run chase with 185 balls to spare.
Earlier, Dhawan won the toss and opted to field first. In the absence of Temba Bavuma and Keshav Maharaj, David Miller made his ODI captaincy debut.
Top-order falls
The first wicket to fall was of Quinton de Kock (6) who became Washington Sundar's victim in the third over. The second wicket came in the eighth over as Mohammed Siraj got rid of a struggling Janneman Malan (15). Siraj also ended Reeza Hendricks troublesome stay at the crease in the powerplay overs. Hendricks scored just three runs from 21 deliveries.
No support for Klaasen
Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen looked to rebuild the innings. But Shahbaz Ahmed forced an edge off Markram's (9) bat to wicketkeeper Sanju Samson. With Klaasen and Miller in the middle, South Africa were expected to make a comeback but Sundar returned to the attack to get the skipper's wicket. South Africa had lost half their side for 66 runs and it was about to get worse. Kuldeep Yadav joined the party and got through Andile Phehlukwayo (5).
Just before the halfway stage, Klaasen's gritty knock came to an end as well. Klaasen got bowled by Shahbaz. He top-scored for the visitors with 34 runs from 42 deliveries including four boundaries. Meanwhile, Marco Jansen hit the only six of the innings.
Kuldeep finishes it off
Kuldeep ensured that the South African tail does not wag. Bjorn Fortuin got trapped in the front of wickets by the Chinaman bowler. He followed it up with the wicket of Anrich Nortje off the next delivery. The southpaw was on a hat-trick but Lungi Ngidi kept it out. In his next over, Kuldeep ended Jansen’s (14) stay at the crease as well and prevented them from crossing the 100-run mark. He took four wickets for 18 runs in just 4.1 overs. Sundar, Siraj and Shahbaz took a couple of wickets each as well.
Easy run chase
Before the run chase could start, the winner was already decided. Shubman Gill used the pace well and hit boundaries during fielding restrictions. While Gill was hitting boundaries, Dhawan was taking his time. The skipper got run out after a miscommunication with his opening partner. The left-handed batter scored just eight runs from 14 deliveries.
Ishan Kishan tried to pick up where he left off and hit two boundaries but edged one off left-arm spinner Fortuin's bowling. The centurion of the previous game Shreyas Iyer smashed a few boundaries.
Gill missed his fourth ODI half-century by just one run as he got lbw by Ngidi. The opener scored 49 runs from 57 deliveries including eight fours. Shreyas finished the run chase in style with a six in the 20th over. He remained unbeaten for 28 off 23 balls including three fours and two sixes.
