Cape Town: Team India made a dream start to their tour of South Africa, winning the first Test at Centurion. A maiden Test series triumph in South Africa beckoned, but it was not to be.
The team’s performance dipped thereafter, as South Africa roared back in style to win the next two Tests and, thereby, the series.
India had a chance for redemption in the ODI series, but they came a cropper yet again and were whitewashed 3-0. That made it five defeats on the trot in two formats – a massive disappointment for a team which was considered to be the favourites.
Having already lost the series in the first two games, India came close to salvaging some reputation on Sunday only to go down by 4 runs at Cape Town on Sunday.
After opener Quinton de Kock’s 124 helped South Africa post 287, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli notched up their second half-centuries of the series but both fell in their 60s. Rishabh Pant was dismissed for a first-ball duck attempting a wild heave. Shreyas Iyer (26) and Suryakumar Yadav (39) promised much but failed to deliver.
Pacer Deepak Chahar, who earlier took 2 wickets, threw his bat around and raised visions of an unbelievable win. But once he was dismissed for a 34-ball 54, the other tailenders were easy prey for South African bowlers as India were bowled out for 283 with four balls remaining.
Scores: South Africa 287 in 49.5 overs. India 283 in 49.2 overs.
Result: South Africa won by 4 runs.
Series: SA won 3-0.
