India spinning SA into daze
innings for the ages at Newlands. His masterful 160 not out off 159 balls (12x4, 2x6) was built on precision, touch and delicacy. There was also brute force, with Kohli particularly enjoying a sweet pull shot off Kagiso Rabada’s penultimate ball that sailed into the Railway Stand.
Kohli was simply on a different planet and waved his bat like a magic wand.
South Africa would have hoped that one of their senior batsmen could match, or even surpass, Kohli’s brilliant efforts, if their run chase was to prove successful.
Without senior players such as captain Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers and opening batsman Quinton de Kock, out due to injury, that responsibility would have fallen on the likes of Hashim Amla, JP Duminy and David Miller.
Amla and Miller, though, disappointed again with the former departing in the first over to set the chase back immediately, while Miller’s struggles at the crease continued.
It was left to Duminy to fight a lone battle with his first half-century in 20 ODIs. In fact, when Duminy and skipper Aiden Markram (32) were at crease putting together a partnership of 78 runs for the second wicket there was actually a glimmer of hope filtering through the famed old ground. However, that was all before Chahal and Yadav were introduced into the attack.
Once they had the ball in their spinning fingers, and Yadav ripped one past the outside edge of Markram’s bat for MS Dhoni to whip off the bails, the writing was on the wall for the home side.
Debutant Heinrich Klaasen, who could not be expected to provide the remedy was trapped on the crease by Yadav, which set in motion a procession that continued right up until fellow debutant Lungi Ngidi was dismissed in the same manner.
South Africa had lost their last nine wickets for just 100 runs and now head to Johannesburg with even more questions than before. ALSO INSIDE
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