South Africa vs India, 3rd ODI - India Player Ratings

Team India is on the cusp of creating history. With their recent win in the Cape Town ODI, they now have an unassailable lead of 3-0 in the 6-match ODI series. If they manage to win at least one more game out of the remaining three fixtures in the series, they will seal the series. This will be a historic win for the Indian team on the South African soil. Coming in to the third ODI, team India had a lead of 2-0 to their credit.

Hence, they were riding high on confidence. At the very same time, the hosts, South Africa, were dented in a massive way. They had lost the services of their three top players – AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, and Quinton de Kock – coming in to the match. Amidst this backdrop, the stand-in Proteas skipper Aiden Markram believed that bowling first would be a good option.

Little did he know, that his opposition number, Virat Kohli, bats equally well in the first innings of the matches as well. Kohli notched up a record unbeaten ton in the match. His unbeaten knock of 160 propelled India to a score in excess of 300. In response, the South African innings could never really get a kick start. They lost wickets at regular intervals and that summed up the game for them. For the visitors, it was yet another comprehensive all round performance.

Here are the India Player Ratings for the match:

Rohit Sharma – 1/10

Coming in to the match, if there was an Indian player under pressure to perform, then it was Rohit Sharma. Rohit has had a tough time in South Africa thus far. And his fortunes did not change in Cape Town either. He was dismissed in the very first over by Kagiso Rabada on a duck. He really needs to up his game if he wishes to sustain his place in the side for the next few fixtures.

Shikhar Dhawan – 8/10

Shikhar Dhawan has looked in sublime form throughout the series thus far. He was unfortunate to have been run out in the first game at a time when he middling the balls so well. In the second game, he scored a fifty. And now, he backed it up with another classy 76 off just 63 balls with 12 fours to his name.

There was a time in the game when Dhawan managed to outplay Virat Kohli. It does not happen too often to see Virat Kohli play the second fiddle in an innings. Dhawan and Kohli added 140 runs for the second wicket which laid the foundation of a big score.

Virat Kohli – 9.5/10

Indian skipper Virat Kohli led from the front yet again in the match. He arrived at the crease in the very second over of the match. He took his time to settle down at the crease. After the departure of Shikhar Dhawan, he played the anchor knock in the innings.

It was his unbeaten 160 off 159 balls with 12 fours and 2 sixes that propelled India to a total of 303 on the board. This was the 34th ODI ton for Kohli. He is next to only Sachin Tendulkar in the list of cricketers with most tons in ODI cricket.

Ajinkya Rahane – 3/10

Ajinkya Rahane will surely look back at this game as a chance gone begging. Rahane, who had performed exceptionally well in Durban, did not get a big chance in the Centurion game. At the Newlands, Rahane had the stage set for him to launch off. But he ended up throwing away his wicket after scoring just 11 runs. Rahane should have batted a little more sensibly in the match.

Hardik Pandya – 3/10

Hardik Pandya made a mockery of the opportunity that came his way in the match. He was promoted to bat ahead of MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav. Hardik showed promise by hitting one maximum but ended up giving his wicket after scoring just 14 runs. Later in the game, he bowled 8 overs to give away 35 runs with no success to boast about. However, in terms of economy, he had an improved outing with the ball.

MS Dhoni – 6/10

MS Dhoni arrived at the crease to bat after the dismissal of Hardik Pandya. Dhoni had quite some time in hand to settle down and then go for the big launch. The former Indian captain managed to get the first part right, but could not really launch an onslaught. He could only score 10 off 22 balls and perished in his attempt to slog. Later in the game, he stumped Aiden Markram to complete his 400th ODI dismissal. Dhoni had a good time with the gloves.

Kedar Jadhav – 1/10

Kedar Jadhav saw himself bat in the lower middle order in the game. Certainly, the hard hitting Maharashtra batsman would have liked to see more overs remain when he had come out to bat. But that cannot be taken as an excuse considering his role of a pinch hitter in the side. Jadhav largely disappointed in the match and could only score a solitary run.

Kuldeep Yadav – 9/10

Kuldeep Yadav proved to be the kingpin for the visitors in the match. When the hosts looked like dictating terms in the initial overs, it was Kuldeep who broke the partnership between Aiden Markram and JP Duminy. He dismissed Markram on 32.

Later, he managed to get the wickets of Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, and Lungi Ngidi to complete his four-fer for the match. Also, Yadav was the most economical of all the bowlers in the game. He gave away just 23 runs in 9 overs for his four wickets at an economy rate of 2.56.

Yuzvendra Chahal – 8.5/10

Much like his partner in crimer, Kuldeep Yadav, even Yuzvendra Chahal bagged a four wicket haul in the match. He did not keep things as tight as Kuldeep when it came to the economy rate. However, Chahal’s boldness with the ball fetched him big wickets in the game. He got rid of JP Duminy at a crucial juncture of the game. He also accounted for the dismissals of Khaya Zondo, Heinrich Klaasen and Imran Tahir. Chahal returned with figures of 4/46 in the 9 overs that he bowled on the day.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 2/10

Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a relatively rough outing with the ball in the match. He was the most expensive Indian bowler on the day. In the 7 overs that he bowled, he gave away 41 runs. Bhuvi failed to get a wicket to his name in this particular game.

Jasprit Bumrah – 7/10

Jasprit Bumrah had a decent time with the ball in the match. He bowled 7 overs and returned with figures of 2/32 in the game. Bumrah started off really well by dismissing Hashim Amla on his very second delivery. Later in the game, he came back to the attack to get rid of the last Proteas hope, David Miller.

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