India Win ODI Series Against South Africa With Style
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2025-12-07 07:36:01
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack
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After the intense competition in the first two ODIs, the final, series-deciding encounter in Visakhapatnam was somewhat anti-climactic. Although Indian fans had a lot to cheer about, with the home team winning by 9 wickets and with more than 10 overs to spare, serious cricket-lovers who had expected another fiercely competitive game were disappointed by two things. The South Africans lost their way after a good start when they batted. Later, they displayed a lack of imagination and purpose in allowing India to win by a huge margin.
That said, the Indian bowlers - Arshdeep Singh (1 for 36) and Harshit Rana upfront and Prasidh Krishna (4 for 66) and Kuldeep Yadav (4 for 41) later, bowled with a lot of purpose on what was essentially a batter-friendly track. They were also backed up with some superb fielding by their teammates. Although the South Africans scored just 42 in the first power play, they upped the ante in the middle overs and with Quinton De Kock going strong, their run-rate was nearly 7 at one time and it was looking as if they would end up somewhere above 325. All credit to the Indian bowlers for skittling them out for 270.
When India batted, the out of form Yashasvi Jaiswal (116 not out) survived a torrid spell from Marco Jansen and fortunately, the demons that were making him fish outside the offstump, left his mind and he blossomed into his usual self to score his first ODI century. Rohit Sharma (75) was also going strong at the other end and, despite some penetrating bowling from Jansen and Baartman, the Indians were cruising to victory. Then, Rohit got out against the run of play, going for a huge shot only to be caught in the deep. But there was no relief for the visitors as the next man in - Virat Kohli (65 not out) - continued from where he left off in the last game and ended the game with a flurry of fours and sixes.
The last game showed that beating India at home is tough if the team gets its form right. Although the South Africans have shown that they are no pushovers (first in the Test series and then in the first two ODIs), the last game left them outplayed in all departments of the game. India carry a lot of positives from the series - the return to form of Jaiswal, Player of the series Virat Kohli's amazing run, Rohit Sharma's power hitting, tight bowling by Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav's ability to both restrict the runs and take wickets. As India waits for the Kiwis (who will come in January), these positives will certainly count a lot. They will face the New Zealanders with renewed confidence.
