Deepak Chahar’s valiant battle goes in vain as South Africa complete whitewash

Despite a late surge by Deepak Chahar, the much-coveted win eluded India under the reign of KL Rahul as South Africa swept the visitors clean in the three-match ODI series.

The momentum oscillated vehemently, swinging one way to the other till the last bit of the contest with Dwaine Pretorious dealing the final blow to the Indian aspirations of a consolation victory.

India made four changes to the side that was vanquished at Boland Park. Venkatesh Iyer, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur were sidelined to accommodate Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna and Jayant Yadav.

There were significant contributions from the newcomers with valuable additions from the seasoned campaigners in the form of Kohli and Dhawan.

With all said and done, another middle-order collapse thwarted India from claiming the maiden win under Rahul’s captaincy that could have marked a rising bubble of confidence. Let us quickly take a look at the talking points of the India versus South Africa third ODI.

1.    Prasidh Krishna’s three-fer helped India rally against a formidable South African batting

The young fast bowler went for a lot of runs but once again proved to be handy for India with his usual display of composure. He was clinical in his line and length that saw him snare the important scalps of David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius and Sissanda Magala. Miller looked in rollicking form and carried on with the fight after a sudden slump in the South African top-order. As the southpaw tried everything in his arsenal to pile further misery upon the Indians, it was Krishna who managed to produce the mishit that was comfortably bagged by Virat Kohli. Dwaine Pretorius seemed to be in fine touch as he stitched together a crucial stand with Miller. It was once again Krishna’s mix of pace that left the fast bowler bamboozled. Magala was too tame to conjure something awe-inspiring and India bundled out the Africans for 287.

2.    Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan’s mind-bending stand

The experienced duo of Kohli and Dhawan added crucial runs to the Indian chase. After losing KL Rahul early, India needed a decent display from two of their best batters and the duo once again made the chase look as comfortable as it can get. They played some fine strokes and were in total control of the situation before Dhawan played an unnecessary shot that led to his departure. Kohli played a fine knock of 65 while Dhawan added 61 that saw India cruising at 116 for the loss of 1 before South Africa brought out their big guns to leave India rattled.

3.    Deepak Chahar’s all-round brilliance and the doom that followed

Deepak Chahar had a couple of big boots to fill with Shardul Thakur chipping in with crucial runs at the end. However, he had leverage over Thakur considering the ordinary display that he had with the cherry in his arms. Despite going for a lot of runs as Quinton de Kock took a liking for the affliction that was posed upon him, he provided the early double whammy to India that left the Proteas shaken. He got rid of Janneman Malan with a quick delivery that left the latter beaten for pace while the dangerous Markram couldn’t resist himself from falling in the trap set by Chahar. That, however, wasn’t really the end of the extraordinary resistance that the medium-fast bowler was about to post. With India teetering at 210 for 6, they needed something miraculous to save their sinking ship. While India needed a plug for the crack in the hull, Chahar came forth with a wall of titanium to blow the South Africans away beyond recognition. He brought out the heavy artillery as it rained boundaries and hope alike at Newlands. He stitched together an all-important 34-ball-54 that brought India menacingly close to the finishing line. Sadly, he ended up miscuing his hit and from thereon, it was just a matter of time before the South Africans cleaned up the Indian resistance to imposing a whitewash.