India skipper Virat Kohli slammed his 35th ODI century as India beat South Africa by eight wickets in the final ODI match at the Supersport Park to wrap up the ODI series 5-1.
Chasing a paltry 2015 runs to win, Kohli scored an unbeaten 129 off 96 deliveries and along with Ajinkya Rahane put on an unbeaten 126-run partnership for the third wicket to shut the doors on South Africa. The Indian captain's unbeaten knock was studded with 19 boundaries and two sixes.
South Africa removed Rohit Sharma early but Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli took charge of the chase with a 61-run stand for the second wicket. Although Dhawan fell against the run of play, Kohli ensured he stays put and along with Rahane took India home.
One of the best ODI innings I have seen in the recent past. Congratulations, @imVkohli! Excellent work by #TeamIndia to win an ODI series for the first time in South Africa. Way to go, boys#SAvIND pic.twitter.com/IjAlV2YpHp
-Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) February 16, 2018
35th .... Greatest Ever ODI player ... #Fact ... @imVkohli #SAvIND
- Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 16, 2018
Kohli-39- Best Average in Each Format (in a country)
- Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) February 16, 2018
Tests - in New Zealand 71.33
ODIs - in South Africa 87.70
T20Is - in Bangladesh 94.40#KingKohli #SAvIND
100 toh mazaak bana rakha hai bande ne. Adbhut , Kohli is just unbelievable. Century No 35 for probably the greatest ODI batsman #SAvIND
- Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) February 16, 2018
At this rate he-s going to get a patent approved on scoring one-day hundreds. No, nobody in the current crop does it like him. @imVkohli You-ve taken the sponsor -ground name too seriously #MomentumODI #Centurion #SAvIND #ViratKohli
-Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) February 16, 2018
Many congratulations to the Indian team on an incredible 5-1 series win. Virat Kohli was simply outstanding but the bowlers, especially Chahal and Kuldeep set it up for India with 33 wickets between them. #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/AYtCtUoLhE
-VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) February 16, 2018
Two of South Africa's four biggest ODI losses at home have come in this series.
-Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) February 16, 2018
Lost by 177 balls and by 107 balls to spare respectively- both at Centurion!#SAvInd
492 runs - Virat Kohli-s tally this series. Now the most runs by any batsman in a bilateral series in ODI history!#SAvInd
- Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) February 16, 2018
He is off again ... @imVkohli ... Grestest ever chaser ... #SAvIND
- Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 16, 2018
Yeh ChaKu humka dedo Thakur
-Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 16, 2018
33 wickets for ChaKu , stabbed South Africa brutally. Absolutely brilliant. Oh, by the way Thakur ne bhi aaj 4 wickets liye. Well bowled. 5-1 would be wonderful #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/qgvy22mEk6
Most runs by a captain in a bilateral ODI series:
-Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) February 16, 2018
481* VIRAT KOHLI (v SA, this series)
478 George Bailey (v Ind, 2013-14)
367 AB de Villiers (v Pak 2012-13)
358 AB de Villiers (v Ind 2015-16)
346 Kane Williamson (v Pak 2014-15)#SAvIND #INDvSA
Most -Man of the Series- in ODIs
-Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) February 16, 2018
15 Tendulkar
11 Jayasuriya
9 Pollock
7 Richards, Amla, Gayle, Yuvraj, Ganguly, Ponting
6 AB de Villiers, Dhoni, Kallis, Dilshan, Inzamam
5 KOHLI, Shakib, Shoaib Malik, Sangakkara#SAvIND
" Vivian Richards Called me during break and said I was never as good as Kohli is - - Michael holding just now on @espn
-King Ro fc (@shubham04_) February 16, 2018
Earlier, Khaya Zondo struck his maiden ODI fifty to steer South Africa to 204 even as the other batsmen failed to find an answer to the disciplined Indian bowling.
Zondo top-scored for the Proteas with a 74-ball 54, laced with three boundaries and two sixes on a good batting track, where most of the other batsmen failed against rookie pacer Shardul Thakur (4/52) and the wrist spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal (2/38) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/51). Jasprit Bumrah also gave good support by taking two wickets.
Asked to bat, the Proteas could hardly recover from the early loss of openers Hashim Amla (10) and skipper Aiden Markram (24) even as No.3 AB de Villiers (30) wasted a start after adding 62 runs for the third wicket with Zondo.
Playing his first match of the series, Mumbai youngster Thakur was on fire in his first five overs, getting rid of Amla, caught behind by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and then the key wicket of Markram with a slow off-cutter, caught by Shreyas Iyer at cover.
Chahal soon joined the party, knocking off de Villiers' leg stick with a flipper to reduce the Proteas to 105/3, before wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klassen (22) joined Zondo for a brief 30-run fourth wicket stand.
Such was the dominance of the Indians that the explosive Klassen failed to find a way to free his arms and when he attempted to drive a slower one from Bumrah, skipper Virat Kohli smartly grabbed a low catch at short cover.
Thakur was then brought back for his next spell and he responded in style by packing back Farhaan Behardien (1) caught by Bumrah at third man.
Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, who till now had a silent outing, came to the party with the wicket of Chris Morris (4) as the Proteas stared at yet another batting collapse.
Zondo, by now had reached his maiden ODI fifty with a touch off Kuldeep for a single and sensed the urgency to shift gears, which, however turned fatal for him.
After reaching the milestone, the 27-year-old Zondo lost his concentration and mistimed a tossed up delivery from Chahal only to find Hardik Pandya running in from sweeper cover to complete a regulation catch.
Reduced to 151/7, South Africa lost all hopes of a competitive score with Andile Phehlukwayo (34) and Morne Morkel (20) adding a quick-fire 36-run stand before Pandya packed back Morkel caught by Iyer.
The tailenders Imran Tahir (2) and Lungisani Ngidi (0 not out), hardly troubled the scorers even though Phehlukwayo clobbered Thakur for two consecutive sixes to raise South Africa's 200.
