South Africa vs India 6th ODI – Who Said What

It was another day of Indian dominance and yet another hundred for the captain Virat Kohli. First, the spinners sucked up life out of the South African batting and then the batsmen made light work of the target. India won the toss and asked the hosts to bat first. While the Indians made just one change in the XI adding Shardul Thakur for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, South Africa went full throttle and swapped four.

Thakur had a good game as he scalped four. For a change, the Proteas didn’t lose a lot of wickets to the spin duo, however, the story on the scoreboard was no different. The pacers shared six wickets and the spinners picked three as the South Africans were bowled out for a paltry 204. Only one batsman who put up a fight was Khaya Zondo who scored 54; his maiden half century.

In the chase, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan got out under 20 each but once again Kohli walked out to the middle and was at his very best. The bowlers couldn’t challenge his dominance, was the alpha on the field and dictated terms. He had a good partnership with Ajinkya Rahane who stayed unbeaten on 34. Virat hit the winning boundary and was unbeaten on 129 off 96 balls in the end as the Indian team secured the game with 8 wickets and 17.5 overs to spare.

The winning captain, Man of the Match and the Man of the Series, Virat Kohli said:

It was a day where I felt really good. Last game I wasn’t in the right mindset. Just decided to start timing the ball. Beautiful place to bat under lights. They had to try something. I like setting up for the short ball as well. It was a blessing to get so many short balls up front. They kept bowling short. In the day it was really slow. At night time the ball came on beautifully.

It’s been a roller-coaster tour till now. People who contribute off the field they deserve a lot of credit as well. My wife who keeps me motivated deserves a lot of credit. You want to lead from the front with your performances. It’s a wonderful feeling. I got 8-9 years left in my career. I want to make the most of it. It’s a blessing from God that I’m healthy. I just look at it that way. I just keep my head down so I can give 120% for the team.

They’ve shown a lot of character. Especially those two young spinners. They’ve been so brave and outstanding. They’ve come back from Johannesburg superbly. Three T20Is to go, tour is not over yet. The first two Tests we weren’t happy with ourselves. Couldn’t take the game to the opposition. Didn’t take a backward step since Johannesburg. I was here, having lost the series, and speaking to you. And now I’m here, having won the series, and speaking to you. Been a wonderful turnaround.

South African captain Aiden Markram said:

Quite a tough series. Something we have to look back at. Try find the reasoning of why we haven’t been as good as we should be. If you look at them, their players have cashed in. That’s how you learn as a young captain. If there’s a time to learn, now would be it. It’s a couple of months away still. Nice break away from this format. Not a bad thing we have a break from 50-over cricket.