Mumbai: South Africa cruised to their first bilateral ODI series win in India after winning the deciding fifth match by a massive 214 runs at Wankhede stadium here on Sunday. It was India’s first bilateral ODI series loss since Pakistan won 2-1 here in December 2012.
After stuttering against spin in Chennai, the South African batsmen were in a demolition mood on a better batting surface. Skipper AB de Villiers (119 runs of 61 balls) won the crucial toss and finished the innings with a flourish after Quinton de Kock 109 (87b) and Faf du Plessis 133 (115b, retired hurt) together set the base for a huge total of 438/4 in 50 overs — the highest ever on Indian soil. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/106) was the most expensive of Indian bowlers.
The improbable record chase saw the home side stuttering early as they lost Rohit Sharma (16) and Virat Kohli (7). Playing his first game at Wankhede, Rohit miscued his shot to Imran Tahir at third man to give Kyle Abott (1/39) who replaced Chris Morris his first wicket. Kohli chased a wide delivery from Kagiso Rabada and De Kock snapped an acrobatic catch to reduce India 44/2 in the eighth over.
Shikhar Dhawan 60 (59b, 8x4) got back amongst the runs. He along with Rahane 87 (58b, 9x4, 3x6) added 112 runs in 89 balls for the third wicket. Local boy Rahane was in sublime touch and found boundaries regularly but the required rate swelled past 10. Rabada (4/41) struck twice in his second spell to remove Dhawan and Suresh Raina (12) to kill the chase.
Dale Steyn (3/38) retur ned for his third spell to remove Rahane, Axar Patel and Harbhajan Singh (0) in quick succession. Tahir (2/50) got a couple of wickets including Dhoni (27) towards the end as hosts folded up for 224 in 35.5 overs.
The tune for Proteas’ onslaught was set by Hashim Amla 23 (13b) with five boundaries of Mohit Sharma (1/84 in 7 overs) in his first two overs. Amla top edged a cut shot to Dhoni after Mohit extracted some extra bounce.
De Kock played the role of an aggressor, while Du Plessis grafted in. De Kock smashed Mohit for first six over fine-leg, drove for four and then took a single to reach his fifth ODI ton against India in 78 balls.
Scoreboard
South Africa: Q. de Kock c Kohli b Raina 109, H. Amla c Dhoni b M. Sharma 23, F. du Plessis retired hurt 133, AB de Villiers c Dhoni b Kumar 119, D. Miller (not out) 22, F. Behardien c Raina b Singh 16, D. Elgar (not out) 5. Extras (lb-2, w-9) 11. Total (for four wickets in 50 overs) 438. FoW: 1-33, 2-187, 2-351, 3-398, 4-430.
Bowling: Kumar 10-0-106-1, Mohit 7-0-84-1, Harbhajan 10-0-70-1, Patel 8-0-65-0, Mishra 10-0-78-0, Raina 3-0-19-1, Kohli 2-0-14-0.
India: R. Sharma c Tahir b Abbott 16, S. Dhawan c Amla b Rabada 60, V. Kohli c de Kock b Rabada 7, A. Rahane c Behardien b Steyn 87, S. Raina b Rabada 12, M. Dhoni b Tahir 27, A. Patel c Miller b Steyn 5, H. Singh c Morris b Steyn 0, B. Kumar c Miller b Tahir 1, A. Mishra lbw b Rabada 4, M. Sharma (not out) 0.
Extras (lb-1, w-4) 5. Total (in 50 overs) 224.
FoW: 1-22, 2-44, 3-156, 4-172, 5-185, 6-195, 7-201, 8-210, 9-219.
Bowling: Steyn 7-0-38-3, Rabada 7-0-41-4, Abbott 7-0-39-1, Behardien 8-0-55-0, Tahir 7-1-50-2.
