Ind vs SA, 3rd ODI, 2022-23: Kuldeep, Siraj take India to series victory; SA struggle for WSL points

India vs South Africa, 3rd ODI, Top Performances: Kuldeep Yadav's 4-18, Mohammed Siraj-Washington Sundar's 4-32 and Shubman Gill's 49 are top performances. India beat South Africa in 3rd ODI and win three match series by 2-1.

Kuldeep gets player of the match for his 4-18 against South Africa (Photo: ©Getty Images)

Brief Scores: India 105/3 (Gill 49, Fortuin 1/20) beat South Africa 99 (Klaasen 34, Kuldeep 4/18, Sundar 2/15) by seven wickets and clinch series by margin of 2-1

Player of the Match: Kuldeep Yadav (4/18 in 4.1 overs)

Player of the Series: Mohammed Siraj (5 wickets in three games)

Hosts India, after losing a close encounter against South Africa in the opening ODI of the three-match series, made a strong return in Ranchi in the second ODI winning by seven wickets. Both teams met each other in the deciding third ODI game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday afternoon.

After a slight delay because of the wet outfield, India captain Shikhar Dhawan on winning the toss decided to field first. South Africa used their third captain in the series in the form of David Miller as Andile Phehlukwayo, Lundi Ngidi, Marco Jansen came into the team replacing Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell and unwell Keshav Maharaj.

India made excellent improvement in bowling department

India began the series with a loss and the main reason for that defeat was their poor bowling performance but as the series progressed, they made decent improvement in the bowling department. The pacers bowled the right line and length to pick up early wickets, while the spinners carried the momentum to exert persistent pressure on the opponents.

India snatched another series victory as South Africa slipped to their lowest ODI total against the former

Put in to bat first, South Africa’s batting collapsed like a pack of cards. They lost three big wickets for just 26 runs in the first ten overs. All eyes were on the partnership of David Miller and Heinrich Klassen who did show some resistance but India’s bowling was too hot to handle as the Proteas were bundled out for just 99 in 27.1 overs.

This is now their fourth lowest total in ODI history, while it is their lowest score against India in ODIs surpassing their 117 in Nairobi in 1999.

India started at a speedy rate as they raced up to 42/0 in six overs; Shubman Gill was the real aggressor as he rocked his way to 30 in just 24 balls. South Africa smiled for a little time with the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan and Ishan Kishan, but Gill with his 49-run knock helped India chase their target in 19.1 overs by a margin of seven wickets.

SA lag at number 11 in WSL Points Table

South Africa with 59 points stand at the 11th place in ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League 2020-23 points table. They are 29 points adrift eighth-ranked West Indies.

South Africa seem to have a tough road ahead as regards direct qualification for ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 to be held in India. They have cancelled an ODI series against Australia which was scheduled to be held in January 2023, as most of their players will be engaged in the inaugural SA20 league at home during that timeframe.

It must be noted that the top eight teams in the WSL points table will earn a direct qualification for next year's ODI World Cup.

ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League Table

Let’s look at the top three performances from the third ODI between India and South Africa.

Siraj-Sundar provide early breakthrough to India in3rd ODI (Photo: ©BCCI)

Sundar-Siraj bowling partnership broke South Africa’s back in the powerplay

The main reason for South Africa’s poor performance with the bat was losing three wickets for just 26 runs in the powerplay. The new ball partnership of pacer Mohammed Siraj and off-spinner Washington Sundar was on top.

Sundar caged big fish, Quinton de Kock, for 6 who threw his hands with a half-hearted cut shot to see the ball balloon to the third man fielder. Janneman Malan had a fierce battle with Siraj in this series and it was the latter who roared after dismissing Malan on 15 who going for a pull shot against a short and quick ball only found the fielder at deep square leg.

Siraj, on the last ball of the powerplay, sent back Reeza Hendricks who took off his eyes going ahead with the pull shot as the substitute fielder Ravi Bishnoi stationed at short fine leg grabbed an easy catch; it was the second time Siraj had the better of Hendricks in ODIs who has scored just 10 runs in 16 balls against the Hyderabad pacer.

Sundar then put the game in India’s court with the wicket of David Miller for a personal score of 7. South Africa’s stand in skipper was bowled through the gate as he played on a full delivery from the offie. Sundar who now has eight ODI wickets finished with 2/15 in his four overs, while Siraj who has 18 ODI scalps returned with 2/17 in five overs as South Africa were reduced to 66/5 in 18.5 overs.

Read More: Ind vs SA, 2nd ODI, 2022-23: India win courtesy Kishan-Iyer 161-run stand, Siraj 3-38; series at 1-1

Kuldeep Yadav takes 4-18 against South Africa in 3rd ODI (Photo: ©Gallo Images)

Kuldeep Yadav blew away South Africa’s tail

For a long time in all the formats of the game, one of the aspects where India struggles a lot is clearing up the tail cheaply after starting on a strong note but Kuldeep Yadav foxed South Africa’s tail with his spin.

With his fourth ball of the game, the Chinaman bowler disturbed the stumps of Andile Phehlukwayo (5) who misread a googly and went back for the cut shot as the ball turned to chop back onto the stumps. This is the third time Kuldeep dismissed Phehlukwayo in ODIs who has scored just 32 runs in 47 balls in the battle.

The 26th over of the innings bowled by Kuldeep was an exhibition as he recorded a double wicket maiden over; first, he trapped Bjorn Fortuin on 1 with a ball that turned in past the edge to strike the pad while on the very next delivery, new batter Anrich Nortje’s defense was cracked with a googly that knocked over the off stump.

With his first ball of the fifth over, Kuldeep registered his fourth wicket in the form of Marco Jansen who going for a slog sweep dragged the ball to Avesh Khan at deep backward square as Kuldeep who now has 118 ODI wickets ended with 4/18 in 4.1 overs to decimate the opponents to a paltry score of 99.

Read More: Ind vs SA, 1st ODI, 2022-23: Klaasen-Miller 139* stand, Rabada-Ngidi 5 scalps dent Ind; SA lead 1-0

Shubman Gill missed half century (49) in 3rd ODI (Photo: ©Getty Images)

Unlucky Gill takes India home

Shubman Gill had a start in the last game but he couldn’t translate it into a big score. But he carried India to the series victory with his solid knock in Delhi. He started off with a beautiful boundary that was hit little finer to the boundary. Gill chased a wide delivery from Jansen as the bottom end of the bat took it over the boundary rope. When the balls were pitched up, Gill leant forward and drove it past the mid-on region for the same result.

Marco Jansen was put away for two back-to-back boundaries as Gill, after punching the first boundary wide of cover, crunched the second boundary off the hip. Gill has collected 25 runs in 19 balls against Jansen in their face off without being dismissed.

Gill made 49 in 57 deliveries with the help of eight boundaries. He was dismissed by a Lungi Ngidi delivery which nipped in to hit his pads but till then the former had already ensured India’s series victory.

Read More: Ind vs SA, 3rd T20I, 2022-23: Rossouw's 100*, Keshav's 2-34 salvage Protea pride; SA win by 49 runs

Iyer-Kishan added 161 runs for 3rd wicket in 2nd ODI (Photo: ©Getty Images)

Samson, Kishan, Iyer, Siraj, Kuldeep light up the ODI stage with notable shows

The first game was all about Sanju Samson who with his 63-ball unbeaten 86 run knock almost took India over the line; while Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer showed stability in the second ODI. The former missed a well deserving century but Iyer carried himself to a match-winning hundred.

In the bowling department, Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav were outstanding. The player of the series, Siraj bowled with good aggression in all the phases of the game whereas Kuldeep with six wickets in the series used his limited opportunities in the best possible way.

What’s to Come

As part of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League 2020-23, India play their next ODI against the current WC runners up New Zealand in a three-match series to be played between November 25 and 30.

The first game of that series will be played at Eden Park in Auckland.

The focus of the cricketing world, however, will now shift to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. India will play their first game against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne on October 23, while South Africa will begin their campaign against the qualifying team on October 24 at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

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