Morkel finished with figures of 4-39 off 10 overs
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South Africa pace bowler Morne Morkel claimed four wickets and opening batsman Quinton de Kock scored 103 to lead the Proteas to a 18-run win over India in the third ODI in Rajkot.
However, India batsman Virat Kohli and opener Rohit Sharma deserve a lot of credit for scoring 77 and 65 respectively.
South Africa captain AB de Villiers would have been delighted with his decision to bat first as his side got off to an excellent start before they lost David Miller and Hashim Amla in quick succession for 33 and five respectively.
However, Faf du Plessis kept India at bay as he and de Kock amassed a 118-run partnership, during which de Kock brought up his seventh ODI century and du Plessis his half-century, before du Plessis was caught by Bhuvneshwar Kumar at short third man off the bowling of Mohit Sharma.
Du Plessis’ excellent knock of 60 came off 63 balls and included six boundaries.
Du Plessis’ excellent form with the bat continued
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De Kock did not last much longer as he was run out by Shikhar Dhawan for 103 off 118 deliveries, which included 11 boundaries and a six.
De Kock scored his fourth ODI century against India
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Following de Kock’s dismissal, South Africa began to collapse as they went from 210/4 to finishing on 270/7 off their 50 overs.
Mohit Sharma was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, while Amit Mishra, Axar Patel and Harbhajan Singh chipped in with one wicket each.
Chasing 271 to win, Kohli and Rohit Sharma were the only two batsmen to have a major impact, along with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who scored 47.
Sharma took the attack to South Africa early on, but was unable to convert his fifty into a triple figure score as he was caught and bowled by Jean Paul (JP) Duminy for 65 off 74 balls, which included seven boundaries and two sixes.
Sharma scored a valiant 65
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Despite losing Sharma, India looked on track to cross the finish line. However, that was before Morkel came in and sliced through their middle order, dismissing Dhoni, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane.
Kohli made 77 off 99 deliveries, which included five boundaries, but his efforts went in vain as India ended up falling short of their target despite having wickets in hand.
Kohli made a gutsy 77
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Morkel was the most successful bowler with four wickets, while Duminy and Imran Tahir claimed one wicket each.
Dhoni was disappointed to have lost the match, and said: “I thought 270 was a par score, the wicket kept getting slower and slower and the dew didn’t help us out. It became a bit two-paced and become difficult to play the big shot. We are looking for batsmen to play at 5, 6 and 7. Till they play there, we won’t know who is a good bet over there. And we are looking to give chances as well so it’s a tricky one. Jinx batted well at 3 but Virat couldn’t score, this is something we will have to look at. I thought our bowlers did well, maybe a bit more dew would have made it difficult. They batted when the wicket was at its best and they also couldn’t find runs at the death.”
De Villiers was delighted to have taken a 2-1 lead in the series, and said: “Very special batting performance. Quinton answered a lot of questions just like how Quinton can do. We struggled between the 37th and 44th over but found our way at the end. To have Miller up front was out of the box thinking from us. We were looking at 250 as a par, the way we fought back with the ball was special.”
Morkel edged out de Kock for the Man of the Match award, and said: “Really worked hard this week on mixing it up a bit. I’m a rhythm bowler and need things to click to operate. We had a couple of gameplans and it is important to execute and we did that. I suppose you live by the sword, you die [by] the sword, he is a big hitter down the ground and had to vary it. Every time I do well, especially against India is very special. And it will last with me forever.”