KHURRAM HABIB
CAPE TOWN: On a scorching day, when the crowd waited till the second session to flock to the stadium, Virat Kohli proved his high level of fitness as he took India to a match-winning 303/6 in the third ODI at Newlands on Wednesday. The total proved too much for the hosts as wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav (4/23) and Yuzvendra Chahal (4/46) got into the act again, skittling them out for 179 to help India to a 124-run win and a 3-0 unassailable lead in the six-match series.
Kohli scored his 34th ODI ton, the second of this series and 12th as captain, the most for India. It wasn’t j ust his fitness but strength of mind too as he hung on despite India suffering a meltdown in the later overs.
While South Africa struggling against the India spinners has become a norm, it was Kohli’s resilience in extreme heat that caught everyone’s fancy.
The skipper, who remained unbeaten on 160 had a stroke of luck early on after Kagiso Rabada got him leg before.
The decision was overturned on review with the snickometer showing a spike when the ball went past his bat --- unusual as the bat seemed some distance from the ball.
He cashed in and with opener Shikhar Dhawan (76) set about punishing the Proteas bowlers on a perfect batting strip. The two added 140 for the second wicket.
Kohli and Dhawan were particularly severe on South Africa’s latest pace find Lungi Ngidi. His first four overs cost 29 runs and when he returned for another two overs, gave away 18 runs.
Rabada looked good at the other end, the two batsmen saw him off and milked the others. Just as Dhawan looked set for a century, part-time off-spinner JP Duminy got him and Ajinkya Rahane. Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav didn’t last long and it looked India would struggle to get to 300 but Bhuvneshwar Kumar dug in to give his skipper company. The two added 67 as India got 78 in the last 10 overs.
For South Africa, only Duminy looked somewhat comfortable against the spin duo after he came into bat at No 3 but fell to Chahal to leave South Africa tottering at 95/4.
David Miller and Chris Morris tried but with the run rate climbing, attacking the spinners was the only option and they fell while doing so.
S Ganguly MS Dhoni S Tendulkar M Azharuddin R Ponting (Aus) AB de Villiers (SA) V Kohli (Ind) S Jayasuriya (SL)