SA v IND 2018: 6th ODI – Virat Kohli’s 3rd century of the series gives India win by 5-1 margin

Virat Kohli scored more than 500 runs in the series- the most by a batsman in a six match series.

Shardul Thakur made an impactful comeback in the Indian team with a four wicket haul | Getty

India and South Africa came to Centurion to play the sixth and final ODI match of the series. India had already won the series with a lead of 4-1 and this was a chance for the visitors to stamp their dominance over the hosts in their own backyard.

Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first. India brought in Shardul Thakur in for Bhuvneshwar Kumar. South Africa on the other hand made four changes bringing in Farhaan Behardien, Khaya Zondo, Imran Tahir and Chris Morris.

Shardul Thakur went for some runs at the start, but then removed Hashim Amla for 10 and Aiden Markram for 24. AB de Villiers (30) and Khaya Zondo (54) added 62 runs for 3rd wicket; before Chahal removed De Villiers with a beautiful delivery.

Klaasen (22) and Zondo tried to rebuild the innings, but Bumrah accounted for Klaasen and Zondo fell to Chahal. Chris Morris (4) and Behardien (1) fell cheaply to Kuldeep and Thakur respectively. Andile Phehlukwayo (34) and Morne Morkel (20) took South Africa past the 200 mark, but Pandya, Bumrah and Thakur wiped off the tail to stop South Africa at 204 in the 47th over.

Shardul Thakur picked 4/52, while Bumrah picked 2/24 and Chahal picked 2/38 as Indian bowling unit choked the South African batting on a decent wicket.

Indian reply started off on a bad note as Rohit Sharma edged one behind off Ngidi for 15. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli added 61 runs for the second wicket, before Dhawan hit one straight to Zondo off Ngidi for 18. Virat Kohli continued on his merry way, striking the ball at a strike rate of over 100. Kohli became the first batsman to score more than 500 runs in a six match ODI series, beating the record of his countryman Rohit Sharma.

Ajinkya Rahane supported Kohli well; as Kohli went onto complete his 35th ODI century and his third in the series in 82 balls. After completing his century, Virat Kohli went after the bowlers to finish the match early.He had an unbeaten hundred plus run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane.

South African bowlers had no answer to his batting and Kohli more or less single handedly won India the match and the series by a margin of 5-1.

BRIEF SCORES:

SA 204 (K ZONDO 54; S THAKUR 4/52) lost to IND 206/2 (V KOHLI 129*, A RAHANE 34*) by 8 wickets

 

 

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 16 Feb, 2018

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