Player of the Match
Player of the Match
2254dThe Report by Firdose Moonda

Rohit, wristspinners fetch India first ODI series win in SA

India have won their first bilateral series in South Africa across any format bar a one-off T20, with victory in the fifth ODI in Port Elizabeth

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

RG Sharma
RG Sharma
115(126) 11x4 - 4x6
Control %84%
  • Productive Shot
  • cut shot
  • 22 runs
  • 4x4 - 0x6
14 1 17 19 16 10 7 31
HM Amla
HM Amla
71(92) 5x4 - 0x6
Control %83%
  • Productive Shot
  • flick
  • 16 runs
  • 1x4 - 0x6
9 8 4 11 9 15 3 12

Best performances - Bowlers

L Ngidi
L Ngidi
O9
M1
R51
W4
Eco5.66
RHB
OFFLEG
2W
2W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav
O10
M0
R57
W4
Eco5.70
RHB
OFFLEG
2W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
2W

Commentator: Varun Shetty

8:47pm That's the series done and dusted, but don't go anywhere just yet. It's 14th February, and we all know what that means - the Champions League is back, and if you're from the subcontinent, you can catch Spurs vs Juventus as well as Basel vs Manchester City live and exclusive on www.espn.in. Thanks for joining us and we'll see you for the next one. Good night!

Virat Kohli: Very pleased, another complete performance from us. Only one thing had the pressure of losing this series and we knew that. It's history and the guys have worked hard for it. Every since the third Test in Johannesburg it's been a good time for us. It's been a collective effort to create history. When three guys at the top are being consistent, the guys who get an opportunity every now and then might not click. After this series is wrapped up we'll sit down and think about where to improve. For now, 4-1 feels great. We want to win 5-1 for sure, but yeah, there might a scenario for a few more guys to get a chance next match. But the ultimate priority is to win and we'll do anything we can to win.

Rohit Sharma: A long time coming, had a good time in the middle. As the game went on the wicket got slower. It's always a good feeling when you score a hundred and your teams wins. Gotta keep yourself in a good frame of mind - that's what I've been doing. I knew I don't have to change a lot and the runs will come. We were in a bit of bother and it was important for me to bat long. I'm glad we could put up the runs on the board and come out and defend it. It's been the hallmark of our team that once you get in, you make it count at the top 3. We face the most deliveries. It was my day today.

Rohit Sharma is the Man of the Match.

Aiden Markram: It has been difficult, yes. Firstly credit goes to India. Our batting wasn't up to scratch. You struggle to build momentum when you lose wickets. They've got their game plans nailed so credit to how they've played. Lungi's spell was spectacular. To keep taking wickets in that middle and end period was important. I was happy at the halfway stage. There were some soft dismissals, starting from myself. I do believe we've played their spinners progressively better in the series. It's a learning process. Lot of pride to play for now and we're gonna look to bounce back and end the series on a positive note.

WATCH - Chahal wraps up India's series win (Ind subcontinent only)

8:31pm Six out of ten for those spinners again as India resume their winning ways. But there was another contribution today that has sealed this for them. Hardik Pandya's 2 for 30 and his run out of Hashim Amla have engineered this win for India. A fantastic return for the allrounder who was out for a golden duck today. Rohit Sharma's 17th ODI hundred set it up for India on a day their middle order struggled to capitalise on a strong start. They fell at least 30 runs short, did India, and looked flat in the middle overs with the dots and the nervous running. In the end, though, they've done it. It's 4-1. Stick around for the presentation.

42.2
W
Chahal to Morkel, OUT, trapped in front and that's the series for India! Chahal draws him forward with a flatter one, spinning in from off stump on a good length. Morkel plonks the front leg forward and is beaten on the inside edge right in front of off stump

M Morkel lbw b Chahal 1 (8m 3b 0x4 0x6) SR: 33.33

WATCH - Chahal and Kuldeep combine to take out Rabada (Available only to viewers in the Indian subcontinent)

42.1
0
Chahal to Morkel, no run, dropped as Morkel drills this full ball straight back to the bowler. It's floated up and nicely in his arc

Chahal. Slip and leg slip.

END OF OVER:
42 | 5 Runs 3 Wkts | SA: 201/9 (74 runs required from 48 balls, RR: 4.78, RRR: 9.25)

  • Lungi Ngidi4 (1b)
  • Morne Morkel1 (1b)
  • Kuldeep Yadav10-0-57-4
  • Yuzvendra Chahal9-0-43-1

For a little while Klaaseen looked a class apart against wristspin WATCH as he takes 16 off Kuldeep's over (Available only to viewers in the Indian subcontinent)

41.6
4
Kuldeep Yadav to Ngidi, FOUR, boom. That's one way to face the hat-trick ball. Tossed up outside off, reaches the pitch of this and batters it between mid-off and the non-striker. That took a second to reach the boundary

Hat-trick ball

41.5
W
Kuldeep Yadav to Shamsi, OUT, Pandya in character, adding more flair than needed as he plucks this one-handed catch from in front of Dhawan's throat. It's a length ball floated up at middle stump. He looks to go big and skies it between long-off and long-on. Neither of them is calling and there's a danger of collision briefly as they converge. But Dhawan seems to notice and hold back a step. The ball is headed into his grasp but Pandya creates an eclipse, getting his palm in the way and then saying "that was mine"

T Shamsi c Pandya b Kuldeep Yadav 0 (2m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

Slip and leg gully

41.4
W
Kuldeep Yadav to Klaasen, OUT, got him! Kuldeep picks up another three-wicket haul and this looks like the match and the series for India. Pushes a googly wide outside off. Klaasen has only taken a step down when he's too far away from this. It's a hopeful slash away from the body in the end, but that ball is drifting and turning away from his reach. Dhoni picks up and smashes the stumps down

H Klaasen st †Dhoni b Kuldeep Yadav 39 (72m 42b 2x4 2x6) SR: 92.85

41.3
1
Kuldeep Yadav to Morkel, 1 run, full toss on middle stump, driven firmly to long-on with a stride

It's Morne Morkel. At No. 9. In an ODI.

  • Imperfect Pandya, impactful Pandya

    This hasn't been the most consistent of tours for the allrounder, but, as he showed once again in Port Elizabeth, he has kept finding ways to make match-turning contributions

  • Gibson's tenure twist: from honeymoon to nightmare

    After easing in with wins against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, the South Africa coach's term has turned disastrous early, with five losses in six matches against India

  • Rabada fined for Dhawan send-off

    The South Africa quick lost 15% of his match fee over the incident, and gained one demerit point, taking his overall tally to five; eight points within a specified period mean a weighty suspension

  • Rohit turns around misfortune with runs

    "I get out in three matches and you start saying I am out of form. If somebody doesn't have three good matches, you say he is in bad form," Rohit Sharma said after his match-winning innings

  • Rohit, wristspinners fetch India first ODI series win in SA

    India have won their first bilateral series in South Africa across any format bar a one-off T20, with victory in the fifth ODI in Port Elizabeth

Something rare

3

No. of home bilateral series of 5 or more matches lost by South Africa, including this. The first two were both against Australia in 1996-97 and 2001-02. This is India's first series win in South Africa.

Lost the way

10/3

Runs scored and wickets lost by India in the four overs from 42nd to 45th. Lungi Ngidi sent back Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Shreyas Iyer in that phase. India could add only 34 more runs in the final 5 overs.

Second-wicket high

132.50

Average 2nd-wicket partnership for India in this series, their second-highest in any ODI series or tournament of 5 or more matches. In this series they have had 3 century stands for 2nd wkt in 5 matches.

Dhawan & Kohli

2

No. of India players to score 300-plus runs in a bilateral series against South Africa. Both have been in this series - Kohli & Dhawan. Previous highest: 285 by Ganguly in 1999-00.

Win toss, bowl first

4-0

Win-loss record for chasing sides in last 4 ODIs in Port Elizabeth since 2015. However, in the two day/night matches in last 10 years at the venue, both being in 2015, the teams failed to chase down the target.