South Africa whitewashing India: India have been undone for the third time in a row in the recently concluded ODI series.
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During the third ODI of the ongoing India’s tour of South Africa in Cape Town, South Africa beat India by 4 runs to win the series 3-0 in an emphatic manner. The development has resulted in India losing five matches in a row after starting this tour with a historic Test victory in Centurion.
Chasing a 288-run target, India were provided a solid foundation by veteran batter Shikhar Dhawan (61) and former captain Virat Kohli (65) who put together a 98-run partnership for the second wicket.
Staring with South Africa all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo dismissing Dhawan and wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant (0) in the same over, India started to lose wickets frequently to nullify all progress made by Dhawan and Kohli.
Playing his first match of the tour, batter Suryakumar Yadav scored an eye-catching 39 (32) with the help of four fours and a six to keep his team in the match.
Having said that, it was pacer Deepak Chahar’s second ODI half-century which gave India high chances of sealing a tense chase. Coming in to bat at No. 7 in the 38th over with the team needing 93 off 77 balls, Chahar single-handedly turned the tables by scoring a stroke-filled 54 (34) with the help of five fours and two sixes.
It was on the first delivery of the 48th over when Chahar mis-timed an aerial shot to get out at a crunch situation. Lack of batting depth among their last three batters was highlighted when the visitors failed to score 10 runs off 17 deliveries today.
Asked to bat first by India captain Lokesh Rahul (9), South Africa had posted 287/10 in 49.5 overs this morning. It was a 144-run partnership for the fourth wicket between wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock (124) and batter Rassie van der Dussen (52) which played a crucial role behind the hosts’ success at the Newlands on Sunday.
Twitter reactions on South Africa whitewashing India:
Disastrous tour for India. After winning first Test handsomely, team went into a massive slump, losing 5 matches on the trot across two formats. There hasn’t been a poorer performance in years. Hard introspection and harsh decisions needed
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) January 23, 2022
Always remember, South Africa defeated this Indian team without their frontline pace attack. Incredible achievement. Cleansweep 3-0.#SAvIND
— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) January 23, 2022
Despite all that pre-tour and during-tour captaincy drama, if someone had said India would lose 5 out of 6 matches in South Africa, you would have probably laughed at them.
But, hey! #SAvInd
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) January 23, 2022
💔
— Official Lucknow IPL Team (@TeamLucknowIPL) January 23, 2022
India’s ODI record since the start of 2020: P 15, W 5, L 10. This sorry run includes series defeats in NZ, AUS, SA. Desperately need to change their ODI template, even in a year that is not that important for them since they’ve automatically qualified for the 2023 CWC. #INDvSA
— Jamie Alter 😷 🇮🇳 (@alter_jamie) January 23, 2022
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