Jaiswal maiden century and Kohli knock seal India’s nine-wicket win
India clinched the ODI series 2-1 against South Africa in Visakhapatnam. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored his maiden century, Rohit Sharma added 75, and Virat Kohli finished unbeaten on 65 as India chased 271 with nine wickets in hand.
Visakhapatnam: Two moments — captain KL Rahul pumping his fists in joy on India winning the first toss in 21 games and young Yashasvi Jaiswal’s leap of joy on reaching his maiden ODI century in only his fourth game — were truly symbolic of India’s success against South Africa in the decider as it clinched the three-match one-day series 2-1 at the ACA-VDCA International Stadium here on Saturday.
Rahul’s animated gestures after the toss suggested its significance, especially considering the dew factor in day-and-night games.
Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (116 not out, 121b, 12×4, 2×6) and Rohit Sharma (75, 73b, 7×4, 3×6) put on 155 for the first wicket in 25.5 overs in a measured chase of 271, cutting down risks and punishing the erring bowlers.
Jaiswal cut left-arm pacer Marco Jansen to the fence and later stepped out to loft fast bowler Lungi Ngidi over long-off for a six. Rohit, not far behind, stepped out and pulled Ngidi into the stands.
When Rohit swung Maharaj to the fielder in the deep, a huge roar greeted Virat Kohli, who walked in with 116 needed to win.
To the delight of the cheering crowd, Kohli produced yet another vintage knock (65 not out, 45b, 6×4, 1×6) to ensure India wrapped up the match in style with nine wickets in hand in the 40th over.
Quinton de Kock slams ton
Earlier, opener Quinton de Kock slammed his 23rd ODI century (106, 89b, 8×4, 6×6) and seventh against India to help South Africa, put in to bat, score 270 in 47.5 overs.
It was a brilliant knock from de Kock, who along with captain Temba Bavuma weathered the early storm from left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, whose first spell of 4-1-11-1 saw the back of opener Ryan Rickelton (0) with the fifth ball of the innings.
Even pacer Harshit Rana bowled two maiden overs in the powerplay, restricting South Africa to 42 for one.
A second-wicket stand of 113 between de Kock and Bavuma (48, 67b, 5×4) revived South Africa. But left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja struck the crucial blow, forcing Bavuma to slash straight to point in the 21st over (114/2).
Then, a 54-run stand for the third wicket between de Kock and Matthew Breetzke (24, 23b, 2×6) raised hopes of a big total.
For India, pacer Prasidh Krishna (9.5-0-66-4) made amends after a poor show in the previous game. His second spell (4-0-11-3) helped India fight back. He trapped Breetzke lbw, dismissed Aiden Markram (1), and cleaned up de Kock to make it 199 for five in the 33rd over.
Kuldeep Yadav (10-1-41-4) then struck big blows, removing Dewald Brevis (29, 29b, 2×4, 1×6), Marco Jansen (17) and Colin Bosch (9) in quick succession to restrict South Africa below 300.
