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Team India arrives in Cape Town (Hardik Pandya/Twitter)
Taking to Twitter, Pandya posted a photo with teammates at the airport itself which read: “Touchdown
It’s time to rock in Cape Town! .”
Touchdown
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) February 5, 2018
It’s time to rock in Cape Town! pic.twitter.com/gfbYQ8ZAEn
While Pandya has personally not had the best of times in the series, the Indians have beaten South Africa comprehensively in both the games – in Durban and Centurion.
Yuzvendra Chahal starred with his maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs as India crushed South Africa by nine wickets to go 2-0 up in the six-match series, at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Sunday.
Chahal (5/22) and Kuldeep Yadav (3/20) helped the visitors bundle out South Africa for 118, which is also the lowest score by any side at the venue, batting first. Later, Shikhar Dhawan slammed his 24th ODI fifty and put on a 93-run stand with skipper Virat Kohli to get the team over the line.
Chasing a modest target of 119 to win, opener Rohit Sharma let his intentions known as he slammed a huge six on the third ball of the innings itself. But in the next over, Kagiso Rabada thought he had got his man when Rohit edge the ball straight into the glouves of the Quinton de Kock. However, Rohit opted to use the DRS and replays showed that he had hit his pads and the decision was overturned.
The two openers started to deal in boundaries as Shikhar Dhawan first slammed two fours in Morne Morkel over. The in the next over, Rohit slammed two boundaries off the bowling of Rabada and at this point, India were flying in the chase.
Rabada then put an end to Rohit's innings as the India opener was caught out at the square leg boundary for 15. Skipper Kohli then joined forces with Dhawan and the two played near flawless innings to get India closer to the small target.
The duo dealt in boundaries against the hapless Protea bowling attack and kept the run-rate closer to six throughout the course of the chase. Dhawan brought up his 24th ODI fifty off just 49 deliveries and this was also his third against South Africa.
With just 2 runs left for India to clinch the match, the officials decided to stop the match and Lunch was taken. Dhawan and Kohli returned to the field after a gap of 40 minutes and the Indian skipper hit the winning runs to help India take a commanding position in the series.
Earlier, after winning the toss and deciding to bowl first, India made full use of the conditions on offer at Centurion as they bundled out South Africa for 118. Chahal and Kuldeep were the wreckers-in-chief, picking up eight wickets between them.
With du Plessis and de Villiers missing, Hashim Amla became the key wicket for India and Bhuvneshwar Kumar accounted for him on 23, just when he was starting to look good. Bhuvneshwar got one to move and take the edge of Amla's bat, with wicket-keeper MS Dhoni completing a simple catch. Amla straight away went for a review and replays showed that it was a horrendous decision.
Next to fall were de Kock and stand-in-captain Markram, both gifting their wickets to long hops from Chahal and Kuldeep respectively. Miller couldn't last long either and was dismissed for a duck by the Chinaman.
Then, on debut Zondo and Duminy stitched together a 48-run partnership, playing the spinners on merit and not playing any loose shots. Zondo looked confident and looked at ease against Chahal-Kuldeep combo.
Chahal then slowed his pace down further, deceiving Zondo as he top-edged one and Pandya took a good catch running behind. In his next over, he accounted for Duminy, who won't be happy with his shot selection as he went for a sweep and missed the ball to be taken plumb in front.
With the batsmen struggling, tail-enders never really stood a chance. Rabada and Morkel were dismissed for 1 each. Morris was left fighting a lone battle which didn't last long as heaved one straight to Kumar, helping Chahal register his first five-for in ODIs.
Chahal's figures of 5/22 is now the best figures by an Indian spinner on this track as he overtook Harbhajan's 3/27. While Kuldeep has the second best figures here now as he ended the innings with 3/20.
AB de VilliersFaf du PlessisHardik PandyaIndia vs South AfricaKuldeep YadavMS Dhonishikhar dhawanSouth Africa vs India 2018virat kohliyuzvendra chahal
First Published: February 6, 2018, 10:20 AM IST