Editor's Pick (ODI): India - South Africa

Team India created history as they clinched their first ever bilateral ODI series win on South African soil by beating Proteas by 73 runs in the fifth One-day International (ODI) at St George's Park on Tuesday. No Indian men's side since its first tour in South Africa back in 1992 has ever won a series across any format.

Now that we have won the series, I feel Captain Kohli would not mind playing around with the lineup for the match coming up tomorrow. Not take risks big enough to sacrifice the match but just enough to let the other boys get the feel of playing in South Africa. The very experience is terrific, I would say.

Winning the ODI series was not the only takeaway, We have ascended to the top spot in ICC ODI rankings. And we will stay there irrespective of how the final ODI match will go.

When we did create history, we did it in a fashionable way indeed. It was an emphatic 73-run win over South Africa in South Africa. Point to be noted that we have assumed the top spot for the fifth time. The fifth ODI saw a very clinical performance by the men in blue. We were made to bat first and we put 274 runs on the board. Rohit Sharma coming back with a bang in this match made all the difference. Contributing to almost half the final total, Rohit Sharma’s 115 from 126 deliveries helped not only India win but also earned him the man of the match award. A well deserved one for the timely knock. Ngidi took four wickets.

South Africa’s Hashim Amla also woke up and hit some runs finally. 71 runs. But his timely knock did not do what Rohit Sharma’s did. Kuldeep Yadav’s four wicket haul combined with two wickets each from Hardik Pandya and Y Chahal helped India make history. The South Africans collapsed to the wrist spinners yet again.

India's run of consecutive bilateral series wins

Against	Host	ODIs	Wins	Losses	NR	Captain
Zim	Zim	3	3	0	0	MS Dhoni
NZ	Ind	5	3	2	0	MS Dhoni
Eng	Ind	3	2	1	0	Virat Kohli
WI	WI	5	3	1	1	Virat Kohli
SL	SL	5	5	0	0	Virat Kohli
Aus	Ind	5	4	1	0	Virat Kohli
NZ	Ind	3	2	1	0	Virat Kohli
SL	Ind	3	2	1	0	Rohit Sharma
SA	SA	5*	4	1	0	Virat Kohli

The last and final match of the ODI series.

The match is being played at Centurion. With a highest score of 392, this ground has seen some massive knocks and fantastic cricket. India looks to be the favourites of this match. And why not. The team has been playing consistently well with all players having played an important role at some point or the other during the tournament.

While India might change the squad a bit, South Africa will want to play their best squad. Which unfortunately for them has not worked so far. It will be a special day as the South Africans play n honour of Nelson Mandela.

India Probable XI : Virat Kohli(c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer / Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar/ Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah

South Africa Probable XI:  Hashim Amla, Aiden Markram (c), Jean-Paul Duminy, Tabraiz Shamsi / Imran Tahir, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Lungisani Ngidi, Morne Morkel, AB de Villiers, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller

Key Players

Batsmen

Shikhar Dhawan

Virat Kohli

Rohit Sharma

Hashim Amla

David Miller

Heinrich Klaasen

Bowlers

Kuldeep Yadav

Y Chahal

Hardik Pandya

L Ngidi

K Rabada

Morne Morkel

Do listen to our audio podcast by Rahul to get more views.

Indu

P.S. Please note that the above-expressed opinions are purely the Editor’s. We do not take

responsibility, nor can we guarantee the performance of the players. All the best !!!