South Africa continued their dominance over India in the ODI series as they won the final game by 4 runs to inflict a 3-0 whitewash.
It was a dead-rubber tie, in which the Proteas posted 287/10 on the board in 49.5 overs after being asked to bat first. Quinton de Kock starred with the bat, scoring 124 off 130 balls while Rassie van der Dussen contributed 52.
Prasidh Krishna was the pick of the bowlers for India, claiming three wickets by conceding 59 runs in his 9.5 overs. Jasprit Bumrah (2-52) and Deepak Chahar (2-53) also picked two scalps each.
In reply, India lost stand-in captain KL Rahul (9) cheaply but the duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli added 98 runs for the second wicket to put the visitors in a strong position.
Andile Phehlukwayo broke the partnership by removing Dhawan for 61 and it is when the tourists lost the plot. Rishabh Pant got out for a first-ball duck while Kohli fell for 65 and Shreyas Iyer (26), Suryakumar Yadav (39) failed to finish the job after getting good starts.
When India were reeling at 223/7, Deepak Chahar turned things around with a swashbuckling 54 off 34 balls but he couldn’t take the team over the line.
With 10 needed off the last three overs, Chahar went for a big shot and was caught at point. In the end, India’s tail-enders couldn’t get the job done and the visitors eventually got bowled out for 283 in 49.2 overs.
Phehlukwayo (3-40) and Lungi Ngidi (3-58) claimed three wickets each for the Proteas while Dwaine Pretorius returned with the figures of 2 for 54 in his 9.2 overs.
Cricket experts on Twitter praised Deepak Chahar for his valiant effort with the bat even though India fell agonizingly short of the target.
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