In the third and final ODI match of the bilateral series, India beat South Africa by 78 runs at Boland Park in Paarl. With this victory, India clinched the series by 2-1. With this victory, the Indian team registered its second ODI series win in South Africa after 2018.
The South African skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and invited the Indians to bat first on a little sluggish surface. The visitors briskly started their innings, as the debutant Rajat Patidar (22) was looking in good touch with the bat in his very first ODI innings but could not be able to convert into a big score, as he was dismissed in the fifth over by Nandre Burger in the fifth over. Sai Sudharsan (10), too went cheaply in the seventh over. The visitors were looking for some stability after these two hiccups, so in the crisis, Sanju Samson stood tall (108), as he started to build the Indian innings by knitting some vital partnerships with KL Rahul (21), Tilak Varma (52), and Rinku Singh (38), and in this course of time, he scored his maiden ODI hundred, and helped his side to cruise towards a big total, and in the end, some brilliant finishing strikes from Rinku helped India to put up a strong total of 296 runs on the board with the loss of eight wickets in the 50-over quota.
While chasing, the Proteas started their proceedings on a very positive note, as the openers Reeza Hendricks (19) and Tony de Zorzi (81), started to attack the Indian bowling from the very word go, but the left-arm pacer, Arshdeep Singh got rid of Hendricks in the ninth over. Axar Patel dismissed Rassie van der Dussen (2), but the Gqeberha centurion De Zorzi was looking very formidable in Paarl too, and he got assistance from the captain Markram (36), and formed a quick 65-run partnership, and started to take the game away from the hands of the visitors, but Washington Sundar soon dismissed Markram, and Arshdeep removed de Zorzi, which helped Indian side to secure quick wickets. After Tony’s dismissal, the South African batting line-up got derailed and got all out on 218 runs in their 45.5 overs.
With the ball, Arshdeep showed his supremacy once again after Johannesburg, as he got four wickets, whereas Avesh Khan and Washington Sundar clinched two wickets each, and Mukesh Kumar and Axar got one wicket each.
For South Africans, Beuran Hendricks was the leading wicket-taker, as he secured three wickets, Burger got two wickets, and Lizaad Williams, Keshav Maharaj and Wiaan Mulder got one wicket each.
For his supreme innings with the bat, Sanju Samson was adjudged Player of the Match, and on the other side, Arshdeep Singh was chosen as the Player of the Series for his exceptional bowling performance throughout the series.
Scorecard:
India: 296-8, Overs 50, Sanju Samson 108, Beuran Hendricks 3/63
South Africa: 218-10, Overs 45.5, Tony de Zorzi 81, Arshdeep Singh 4/30