India trample SA again

Cape Town : An all-round show saw India crush South Africa by 124 runs in the third ODI in Cape Town yesterday as they took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the three-match series. The wristspinners again spelled the doom for the hosts as the pair of Kuldeep Yadav (4/23) and Yuzvendra Chahal (4/46) shared eight wickets to bowl out South Africa for 179 in chase of 304.

It was a comprehensive performance from the visitors who, for the first time, recorded a third consecutive win in a bilateral series in South Africa. The hosts never looked in the hunt as regular strikes pushed them on the backfoot with the spinners bossing over their batsmen.

South Africa chase started on the wrong foot with Jasprit Bumrah trapping opener Hashim Amla with his first delivery of the innings in the second over. Captain Aiden Markram (32) and JP Duminy (51) attempted to resurrect the chase with a decent 78-run stand before the slide began.

Markram was outfoxed completely to be stumped off Kuldeep in the 17th over and following that the spinners tightened their stranglehold in the middle overs. Duminy, who returned to form with his 25th ODI fifty, soon followed when Chahal joined the fun trapping the well-set batsman in the 22nd over.

While Indian innings found a rock in Virat Kohli who scored a magnificent unbeaten 160 to help them breach the 300-run mark, there was no such luck for South Africa. They weren’t allowed to build any partnerships and the rising pressure combined with the spinning deliveries, contributed to a quick end. 

Debutant Heinrich Klaasen lasted six runs while David Miller tried settling in before Jasprit Bumrah returned to have him out caught behind on 25 as South Africa lost half their side on 129.

The last five wickets fell for the addition of just 50 with Chahal and Kuldeep inflicting the damage.