India sealed another home series win and this time against an opponent who they dearly wanted to beat in ODIs – South Africa. And this was, surprisingly, a much quicker and less closer affair than the two previous ODIs were.
India’s stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan won the toss in the decider at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, and elected to bowl first. The bowlers vindicated the decision of their skipper and in some style.
Given the new ball, Washington Sundar scalped Quinton de Kock in the third over of the match and there began a procession of fall of wickets courtesy of some smart bowling and some poor shot-making.
The other opener, Janneman Malan, was the next to go to a short ball, dismissed by Mohammed Siraj, who also had the in-form Reeza Hendricks, with another back-of-length delivery.
Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed bowled a beauty to drag Aiden Markram forward, the ball turning enough to take his outside edge and Samson took a good catch behind the stumps. Shahbaz and Washington struck once more each to take out Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller respectively. before Kuldeep Yadav put on a spin-magic show dismissing four batters, who couldn’t understand the turn and mishit or missed their shots against the wily chinaman. The Proteas bundled for 99 – their lowest ODI total against India.
𝐂.𝐇.𝐀.𝐌.𝐏.𝐈.𝐎.𝐍.𝐒! 🏆#TeamIndia | #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/rHqevCsVxz
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 11, 2022
The chase was quite straightforward with Shubman Gill, after twin failures, re-asserting his form and class, timing beautifully 8 boundaries in his 57-ball 49-run knock even as Dhawan and Kishan struggled and got out for cheap scores. Shreyas Iyer remained unbeaten on 28 off 23 in the company of Sanju Samson and finished the chase in 19.1 overs.
Kuldeep Yadav was named the Player of the Match while Mohammed Siraj the Player of the Series.
Kuldeep said: “Feeling very happy, to be honest. Getting the Player of the Match award, the wicket was perfect and I am enjoying my bowling. I am not thinking too much about the result, just focusing on the process and focusing on my rhythm. I am trying to bowl in good areas.”
Siraj said: “Performing against a good team gives you a lot of confidence. I had to take the responsibility. I try to figure out the right lengths at the start of the innings. As a fast bowler you need that fire and passion inside you. Happy with my performance, and happy to get this Player of the Series award.”
Meanwhile, fans on Twitter were also happy with this win by the second-string Indian team over a largely full-strength South Africa:
KL Rahul ✅
Shreyas Iyer ✅
Virat Kohli ✅
Rohit Sharma ✅
Rishabh Pant ✅
Shubman Gill ✅An elite list of India batters who have scored ODI centuries since 2019 World Cup 👏#ShreyasIyer #India #INDvsSA #Cricket #ODIs pic.twitter.com/k9lo5gNc0W
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) October 10, 2022
It was a wonderful experience.
India people’s always cheer’s our team in his loss and win always support hardly.💝🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🏆#IndvsSAodi #INDvsSA #shubhmangill pic.twitter.com/IpiwrJ3LKo— Kush Gaud45 (@KGaud45) October 11, 2022
📸 ❤️🇮🇳 “ Champions ” 🏆 #INDvSA #INDvsSA #SAvsIND pic.twitter.com/8LWa1hICO8
— 🦋 Mee23 🙂 🦋 (@2_Meenu23) October 11, 2022
⚡ SIRAJ SUPREMACY! The pacer was on a whole new level with his pace bowling today.
👏 He bagged the wickets of Malan & Hendricks!
📸 BCCI • #MohammedSiraj #INDvSA #INDvsSA #SAvIND #TeamIndia #BharatArmy pic.twitter.com/zzJ1i1hYvi
— The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) October 11, 2022
Complete domination by Indian bowlers 🤩#INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/wamhi4CUWL
— Foresay sports தமிழ் (@ForesayThamizh) October 11, 2022
A second string Indian team winning series against full strength SA will put India on top of the ODI Super League points table when they have already qualified for the WC. That’s some flex 😂 #INDvsSA
— Cow Corner (@CowCorner183) October 11, 2022
Hearing that Miller did a Kohli today,that is reviewing after being clean bowled.
Lovely stuff.#IndvsSA
— Akash Kumar Jha (@Akashkumarjha14) October 11, 2022
India won series Against full – Strength South Africa team!! 0-1 Down Then To 2-1, Incredible captaincy by Shikhar dhawan; wonderful Batting by Shreyas, ishan, shubman, Samson ❤
Of course Incredible bowling…
Well done Team india !!#Teamindia / #INDvsSA / @BCCI pic.twitter.com/iGKAujib3J
— 𝒮𝓊𝒷𝒽𝒶𝓈𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒🕊 (@subhu__RO45) October 11, 2022
Mohammed Siraj & Sanju Samson, keep the consistency going.
Brilliant returns for Shreyas Iyer and Kuldeep Yadav, much needed for their confidence. 🇮🇳#INDvSA #INDvsSA #CricketTwitter— Manoj Dimri (@manoj_dimri) October 11, 2022
Kuldeep Yadav is backkkkkk🔥#INDvsSA #kuldeepyadav pic.twitter.com/6lq1Gt6HK7
— The Cricket Followers (@cricfollowers_1) October 11, 2022
South Africa came looking for direct qualification for the world cup and revived memories of 99 all out.
Kuldeep Yadav with a 4-fer another memory revived.
Well done boys.#INDvsSA #IndvsSAodi pic.twitter.com/gHO8p4bzSx
— Avinash (@imavinashvk) October 11, 2022
A Rare Coindience! 😇😎
My three fabs won Player of Series award in #INDvsSA ODI series.•AB Devilliers in 2015
•Virat Kohli in 2018
•Mohammad Siraj in 2022 pic.twitter.com/IZA5uTy7p5— Jayanth VLK (@vlkjayanth_1718) October 11, 2022
What a great spell from #KuldeepYadav.. Just wow… Was waiting for this comeback. Our Kuldeep is Backkkkkkkkkkkkkkk 😤🔥🔥🔥🔥#INDvSA #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/uYmpXfOt5M
— Riya (@are_yrr_riya) October 11, 2022
Mohammed Siraj won the Player of the Series Award #Siraj #INDvsSA #MohammedSiraj pic.twitter.com/1vOBxI6V4f
— Cricket Socials (@CricketSocials) October 11, 2022
What a spell by Kuldeep Yadav – 4/18
What a comeback year ❤
Good to KD back now!!#kuldeepyadav | #INDvsSA | pic.twitter.com/LbN0k0goqB— 𝒮𝓊𝒷𝒽𝒶𝓈𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒🕊 (@subhu__RO45) October 11, 2022
Mohammad Siraj what a start 🔥
Take a bow to Siraj 🔥🥳🎊..
Great to see the Captaincy skill of Shikhar Dhawan in 3rd ODI 💪#ShikharDhawan #INDvsSA #MohammedSiraj #SAvsIND #Siraj pic.twitter.com/fnVnQjtRLc— Ashutosh Srivastava (@imAshutosh08) October 11, 2022
🏏🇮🇳 SERIES VICTORY! We take the series 2-1.
🙌 Well played, Team India!
📸 Getty • #INDvSA #INDvsSA #SAvIND #TeamIndia #BharatArmy pic.twitter.com/q4MICwOmCD
— The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) October 11, 2022
SA🇿🇦 99 all out vs India 🇮🇳 as a tribute to Pakistan’s 🇵🇰99 all-out vs Zimbabwe🇿🇼 #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/WfEzG4rH2K
— Farid ¹⁸ 🇮🇳 (@KohliStaan18) October 11, 2022
South Africa tribute to pakistan 99/10
Respect 🙏🏼💪#INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/eGxOEX8MEe— Arun (@ArunTuThikHoGya) October 11, 2022
Kuldeep yavad’s form and year 2022 just keep getting better. Good for Indian cricket. #INDvsSA
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 11, 2022
Dhawan and his boys are back. pic.twitter.com/3lcKBEnq1Z
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 11, 2022