SA vs Ind, 3rd ODI, Cape Town: Deepak Chahar's 54(34) goes in vain; SA complete clean sweep

South Africa won by 4 runs at Cape Town, claim three-match ODI series by 3-0

SA vs Ind, 3rd ODI, Cape Town: Deepak Chahar's 54(34) goes in vain; South Africa complete clean sweep 3-0

South Africa complete clean sweep in ODIs against India (©BCCI/Twitter)

Brief Scores: South Africa 287 (De Kock 124, Van der Dussen 52, Krishna 3/59, Bumrah 2/52) beat India 283 (Kohli 62. Dhawan 61, Ngidi 3/58, Phehlukwayo 3/40) by 4 runs

Deepak Chachar scored his second ODI fifty and tried his best to win the last match for India but he didn't get the desired support from the other batters and South Africa won the final game of the series by just four runs to complete a clean sweep of 3-0 over India.

Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli also slammed fifties in this match but alas they were scored in losing causes just like the first match as India sorely lacked the finishing touch yet again.

The Indian bowlers did a decent job in the dead rubber at Newlands in Cape Town. The visitors restricted the Proteas Batters to 287 runs in 49.5 overs. India’s bowlers took wickets at regular intervals. Except the partnership between Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen, the Indian bowlers were on the mark in this game.

South Africa lost Malan early

India won the toss and opted to bowl first in this final one-dayer. The visitors went with four changes in this game. India dropped Venkatesh Iyer, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur. These four players were replaced by Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Chachar, Prasidh Krishna and Jayant Yadav.

India have been good with the new ball and in this match, Chahar struck a vital blow for the visitors. After a decent first over from Jasprit Bumrah, Chahar picked up South Africa opener Janneman Malan for just one run. Malan got a faint edge which went straight to Pant behind the stumps.

This start wasn’t expected from the Proteas team. The skipper and man in form, Temba Bavuma walked in to bat with De Kock. The wicketkeeper batter and the skipper tried to stabilise the innings with a decent enough stand. But this partnership was broken due to an excellent throw from India’s skipper KL Rahul. Bavuma had to depart for 34 runs due to a direct hit.

South Africa recovered from that blow as their leading man, De Kock was still there batting with caution. This time, Aiden Markram supported De Kock. South Africa reached the fifty-run mark and they looked good to add a decent total on the board.

But Deepak Chachar brought India back in the contest. A short delivery by him worked for the tourists as it got the wicket of Markram for just four runs. The top three of South Africa didn’t bat well as they did in the last game in Paarl. Markram continued his poor form in the ODI series.

De Kock and Van der Dussen shared a 144-run partnership to revive South Africa

The Proteas were placed at 70 runs for the loss of three crucial wickets when Van der Dussen and De Kock started rebuilding the home side’s innings. South Africa needed someone to stand up and it was De Kock who did the job for the home team. He loves playing against India and this partnership with Van der Dussen drove India out of the contest. He brought up his 17th century in his ODI career and his sixth ODI hundred against India.

South Africa’s middle-order collapsed due to brilliant bowling by India

India made a brilliant comeback in this match, and that was mainly because of Jasprit Bumrah who broke this game-changing stand. Boom Boom Bumrah picked up his Mumbai Indians teammate, Quinton De Kock for a brilliant 124 runs and opened the floodgates of South Africa’s middle-order, which was tested in this one-day series.

Shreyas Iyer took a blinder of a catch off Yuzvndra Chahal’s bowling which ended the innings of Van der Dussen for 52 runs.

Miller and Pretorius’ 44-run partnership allowed South Africa to score 287 runs in 50 overs

The Proteas were in a position of concern when they lost Andile Phehlukwayo for just four runs. It looked like South Africa won’t even reach a total of 265 to 270 runs. But a quickfire partnership between David Miller and Dwaine Pretorius allowed the home side to get a decent score in the end.

Miller and Pretorious shared a partnership of 44 runs that allowed the hosts to score 287 runs after their fifty overs. This total was exactly India's score in the last game in Paarl. Miller and Pretorius were dismissed because they tried to up the scoring rate. Miller scored 39 runs while Pretorius, who replaced Tabraiz Shamsi in the Protea lineup, scored 20 runs.

Prasidh Krishna picked up three wickets. Deepak Chachar and Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets each, while Yuzvendra Chahal got one wicket to his name.

India lost Rahul and Pant early in the run chase

The visitors needed a good opening stand to chase down 288 runs. In the last match, KL Rahul and Dhawan added 63 runs for the opening wicket. But here, just like the 1st ODI, Rahul fell cheaply for just nine runs which brought the pressure back on the Indians. Pant scored a first-ball duck, allowing India to slide further in the daunting run chase.

Dhawan and Kohli shared a stand of 98 runs

After Pant’s dismissal, Kohli and Dhawan shared a vital stand of 98 runs. This partnership kept India in the game. The boys from Delhi shared a crucial stand just like the first ODI, played in Paarl. Both these players scored their half-centuries, and they were dismissed after that.

Kohli and Dhawan got starts but they didn't convert that into big scores. The 98-run partnership was broken by Andile Phehlukwayo when Dhawan departed for 61 runs, which triggered a collapse for the visitors.

The same old story of middle-order failure continued in this dead rubber

India solved their middle overs bowling woes quite decently. But they couldn’t resolve the batting display of their middle-order in this final ODI. Shreyas Iyer got to a decent start in this match. But his poor form continued to raise concerns about his place in the side. Pant was the hero for India in the last game. He was out for zero here, however, while Suryakumar Yadav couldn’t grab the opportunity he got after a long wait.

The middle-order batters’ form is a sign of worry ahead of India’s next ODI series against the West Indies. Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav shared a mini-stand in Cape Town but the Protea pace bowlers strangled the visitors with their accurate line and lengths. Shreyas and Surya tried to release the pressure but they got out reasonably earlier than expected. Shreyas scored 26 runs while Surya made 39 runs.

No Shardul, Deepak Chahar came to the rescue

India were under tremendous pressure when Deepak Chahar came to the crease. Jayant Yadav was out and the score hadn't even reached the 250-plus mark. At that time, Deepak Chahar, another potential all-rounder, rescued India just like Shardul Thakur did for the team in the first two one-day matches.

Deepak also shined in Sri Lanka when India were chasing. But at that time, he was unbeaten even after he scored his maiden ODI fifty. Unfortunately, he was out here after scoring his second fifty in the fifty overs format. He was out for 54 runs off 34 deliveries. Chahar and Bumrah took India tantalizingly close to the score posted by South Africa and this game was posied to be a thriller. In the end, Yuzvendra Chahal and Prasidh Krishna tried their best but the Protea bowlers held their nerves to win the series by a 3-0 margin.

Lungi Ngidi and Phehlukwayo took three wickets each. Petrorius took two wickets while Keshav Maharaj and Sisanda Magala took one wicket each which allowed South Africa to restrict India to 283.

South Africa won the last match by four runs and whitewashed India by 3-0.

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