India outplayed South Africa by seven wickets in the final Delhi ODI on Tuesday. As a result, the Men in Blue win the series 2-1. The hosts have also equalled Australia's record of most international wins in a calendar year.
It was a splendid all-round outing for India, as it dismantled South Africa by seven wickets in the third and final One-Day International (ODI) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday. With this triumph, the hosts have clinched the series 2-1, having lost the opening tie in Lucknow before bouncing back in Ranchi. Also, with this success, the Men in Blue have equalled the long-standing record of Australia of having scripted the most international wins in a calendar year (38). They are highly tipped to go past the record by the end of the year. In the meantime, the netizens were jubilant following the decisive victory.
Done & dusted 😎🔥 win the ODI series 2-1 🏆 pic.twitter.com/mGFDFktMuN
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan)Winning the toss, the Indians invited the South Africans to bat, while David Miller was the stand-in skipper. The Proteas were three down for 26 by the tenth over of the Powerplay (PP). They could hardly get any partnerships going and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The highest partnership for the visitors was a 23-run stand between stand-in skipper David Miller (7) and Heinrich Klaasen (24), while they were bundled out for 99 by the 28th.
Congratulations to and his boys and and his team for an outstanding performance against a strong and full-strength SA team. The 2-1 series victory again highlights the depth of talent in Indian Cricket. Well done, 🇮🇳
— Jay Shah (@JayShah)ALSO READ: HARDIK PANDYA TURNS 29 - HERE'S HOW CRICKETING WORLD WISHED THE DESTRUCTIVE ALL-ROUNDER
Well done Shikhar Dhawan and team. Top stuff from team india 🇮🇳.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan)For the Indians, chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav nailed it with a four-for, while pacer Avesh Khan was heavily economical. In reply, the Indian openers Shikhar Dhawan (8) and Shubman Gill (49) put on 42 before the former fell off an unfortunate run out in the seventh. It was down to 58/2 by the 11th.
🏏🇮🇳 SERIES VICTORY! We take the series 2-1.
🙌 Well played, Team India!
📸 Getty • pic.twitter.com/q4MICwOmCD
However, Gill, along with Shreyas Iyer (28*), maintained his composure and took the score to 97 before being the third wicket to fall in the 19th to pacer Lungi Ngidi, just a run short of his fourth ODI half-century. Nonetheless, Iyer finished things by striking the winning six off pacer Marco Jansen in the 20th and getting the job done by seven wickets. In contrast, for South Africa, Ngidi and fellow speedster Bjorn Fortuin claimed a wicket each, while pacer Anrich Nortje was economical.
Brief scores: SA 99 in 27.1 overs (Klaasen- 34; Kuldeep- 4/18) lost to IND 105/3 in 19.1 overs (Gill- 49; Fortuin- 1/20) by seven wickets.