SA blown away again

Superpowered India blew South Africa away again in the sixth and final ODI at Centurion last night, their attack once again cutting through an uninspiring batting line-up before Virat Kohli, pictured, blasted a century to seal victory by eight wickets with 107 balls to spare.

Having been sent in to bat, South Africa’s batsmen just couldn’t get going, starts being snuffed out as the home side seemingly lacked the hunger to get stuck in and take the fight to an Indian attack that was as sharp as ever, even though they had already won the series.

The decision to further weaken the batting by leaving out both David Miller and JP Duminy was soon exposed as folly as none of the top three stamped their mark on proceedings as Hashim Amla fell for 10, Aiden Markram (24) gave away another start and AB de Villiers made 30 but then got himself out when well set as he tried to play a premeditated cut shot against a leg-stump half-volley from spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

Khaya Zondo fought as hard as any SA batsmen has all series as he scored 54, but as a rookie trying to make his mark at this level, he was unable to dominate the bowling with his runs coming off 74 balls as wickets tumbled at the other end.

Andile Phehlukwayo also showed some late defiance with 34, while Morne Morkel provided some light relief with his 20, but a total of 204 was never going to be enough as Kohli quickly made a mockery of the contest.

The Indian captain was lord of all he surveyed as he blazed 129 not out off just 96 balls, It was a sumptuous innings, a majestic statement to those debating the pecking order of the world’s best batsmen, making him the first batsman to score over 500 runs in a bilateral ODI series.