South Africa vs India, 3rd ODI: Sanju Samson’s 108, Tony de Zorzi’s 81 and Arshdeep’s 4-30 are top performances. India won by 78 runs South Africa and take home series by 2-1 margin.
Brief Series: IND 296/8 (Samson 108, Verma 52, Bendricks 3/63) beat SA 218 (Zorzi 81, Arshdeep 4/30) by 78 runs
Player of the match: Sanju Samson (108 runs in 114 balls)
Player of the series: Arshdeep Singh (10 wickets in three ODIs)
Sanju Samson marked the headline, celebrating his maiden ODI century to take India to a commendable position with the bat, especially after an early struggle.
Both teams came into the series with the series still alive. India was excellent in both departments during the first ODI, while South Africa also made a brilliant comeback in the second game of the series. They met each other for the third and final game of the series at Boland Park in Paarl.
Talking point: Sanju Samson’s maiden ODI ton will give him confidence
It wasn’t about a quick-fire hundred by Samson, but coming early in the crease, he recovered India to a safe position and showed different play gears. He has been scoring runs, but the only thing he was missing was a big hundred, and this century would give him so much confidence going forward.
Read More: SA vs IND, 2nd ODI: Tony de Zorzi’s maiden ODI ton sweeps aside India; series level 1-1
India clinched just their second ODI series win in SA by 78 runs
On winning the toss, South Africa captain Aiden Markram opted to bowl first on a dry surface with a bit of grass covering. India handed Rajat Patidar a debut cap, as Washington Sundar got his chance, too. South Africa went with the unchanged winning eleven.
India struggled early on, finding themselves at 49/2 before they recovered them to 102/3 in 20 overs. The 116-run fourth wicket partnership between Sanju Samson and Tilak Verma pushed them to 203/3 in 40 overs, as they finally progressed to 296/8 in their allotted 50 overs.
After a 59-run opening partnership, SA suddenly found themselves at 76/2 in the 15 over. The 65-run third wicket stand recovered them to 141/3, but India returned hard to reduce them to 174/5. However, with the wicket of David Miller, they took control, as India won their second ODI series against SA in SA with a win by 78 runs.
Top three performances from the India vs South Africa third ODI in Paarl
Samson’s maiden century pushes India close to 300
India was struggling early on when Sanju Samson came to the crease. It was a very important innings for his ODI career. He looked to focus on the singles at the start before driving Beuran Hendricks through the square for a boundary. With a single, he reached his 66-ball fifty.
He pulled Lizaad Williams over wide mid-on for a four before launching him over deep mid-wicket region for a beautiful six. He pulled Nandre Burger for another six as he celebrated his maiden ODI century in 110 balls. He finished on 108 with the help of six boundaries and three sixes, and now he has 510 ODI runs in 14 innings.
Read More: SA vs IND, 1st ODI: Arshdeep-Avesh combined 9-64 decimates SA; India go 1-0 up
De Zorzi kept SA in the chase with an 81-run knock
The Proteas opener, Tony de Zorzi, was in excellent touch in the series and showed more glimpses of his class. He nailed Mukhesh Kumar for two consecutive boundaries in the square region before driving Arshdeep Singh over the infield square for a four. He pulled Mukhesh over fine leg for a huge six before creaming Axar Patel for another boundary over deep mid-wicket.
He reached his maiden ODI fifty in 54 balls. He slogged Axar for a six before being dismissed on 81 in 87 balls, with the help of six boundaries and three over boundaries.
Arshdeep took valuable wickets for 4/30
Arshdeep Singh has been in terrific touch in the series with the ball, and he gave India crucial breakthroughs. He found the outside edge of Reeza Hendricks (19) as Rahul took an easy catch to draw first blood. Coming late with the old ball, he trapped de Zorzi (81) plumb before the stumps to bring India back in the game.
He took a couple of wickets in the backend to finish with 4/30 in his nine overs, and he now has 10 ODI wickets in five innings.
Read More: SA vs IND, 3rd T20I: Surya ton, Kuldeep 5-17 give series-levelling win for India
Statistical highlights from the India vs South Africa third ODI
- Sanju Samson notched up his maiden ODI century.
- The 116-run stand between Samson and Verma is India’s second-highest fourth-wicket stand against South Africa.
- 296/8 is India’s second-highest total against SA in SA.
- KL Rahul becomes the eighth batter to score 1000+ ODI runs in 2023.
- Tony de Zorzi finished the series as the highest run-getter with 228 runs in three innings at an average of 114.
What’s next
Both teams will meet each other for the first of the two-match Test series on Boxing Day, December 26, at the Super Sports Park in Centurion.
Read More: India tour of South Africa 2023-24: Quest for Historic Test Series Win in SA
