The series decider clash of the 3-match ODI series saw Team India deliver a fiery performance by thrashing South Africa with a 9-wicket victory. On Saturday night (December 06), KL Rahul and his men clinched the series by 2-1.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s maiden ODI century, added with the half-centuries of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, steered their team to comfortably chase 271 in just 39.5 overs.
Moreover, the 4-fers from Kuldeep Yadav and Prasidh Krishna tamed the destructive batting line-up of the Proteas.
A collaborative effort from all players highlighted India’s growing dominance and stature in white ball cricket.
India’s First ODI Coin Toss Win After 20 Matches
Indian captain KL Rahul found his initial success by breaking India’s unwanted streak of losing the toss in 20 ODIs. Having won its last toss against New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup, India’s repeated misfortunes of unfavorable outcomes in tosses have been a worrying sign of concern.
As the toss result is purely based on chance, the moment during the 3rd ODI was more than a coin flip.
KL Rahul made use of the rare advantage by inviting the Proteas to bat first, so that his team could gain a massive advantage while chasing competitive targets under the lights.
South Africa’s Early Domination to Instant Collapse
Despite Arshdeep Singh dismissing South African opener Ryan Rickelton for a 4-ball duck, the 113-run partnership between Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock kept their team’s innings in control at the early stages.
Bavuma’s 67-ball-48 runs (including 5 fours) gave the visitors a strong platform at 114/1 in 20.5 overs.
Quinton de Kock was the standout performer, who smashed a magnificent 106-run knock off 89 balls (including 8 fours and 6 sixes). The South Africans, at a certain stage, seemed to compile a mammoth total of 350 or 400.
However, the Indian bowlers made a tremendous comeback by bundling out the Proteas to 270. Thanks to Kuldeep Yadav (4/41 in 10 overs), Prasidh Krishna (4/66 in 9.5 overs), Ravindra Jadeja (1/50 in 9 overs), and Arshdeep Singh (1/36 in 8 overs).
From a promising start to a dramatic collapse, South Africa’s 270 all-out in 47.5 overs points out how they lost their nine wickets for just 119 runs.
India’s Opening Batters Dominate Against Proteas
The opening partnership of 155 runs between Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal set the tone for India to chase 271.
While Jaiswal took his time to settle at the crease, Rohit batted at a 100+ strike rate and scored a fluent 75 runs out of 73 balls faced. He struck the ball through the gaps with perfect timing, having smashed 7 fours and 3 sixes.
Yashasvi, on the other side, scored a career-defining 116-run knock off 121 deliveries, anchored with 14 fours and 2 sixes at a strike rate of 95. He anchored the run chase with his maiden ODI century, which outlines his potential as a valuable asset for India’s batting line-up across all formats.
Virat Kohli’s Quickfire 65-Run Knock
After scoring back-to-back centuries in the series, Virat Kohli continued with his peak form and wrapped up the chase with 61 balls to spare. He batted at a strike rate of 144.44 and added an unbeaten 65 runs out of just 45 balls, laced with 6 fours and 3 sixes.
His aggression with the bat made the chase much more clinical, leaving South Africa’s bowling attack completely clueless.
Notable Moments and Records From IND vs SA 3rd ODI 2025
- Virat Kohli bagged his 20th Player of the Series Award in International Cricket as well as his 11th in One Day Internationals (ODIs).
- Yashasvi Jaiswal was honored with his maiden Player of the Match Award in ODI cricket.
- Kohli concluded as the leading run scorer of the 3-match ODI series against South Africa. With 302 runs in 3 innings at an average of 151 and a strike rate of 117.05, the veteran batter once again proved his consistency and intent to score runs in the limited-overs format.
- Rohit Sharma joined the 20,000-run club in international cricket, becoming the fourth Indian to achieve this feat.
- Kuldeep Yadav achieved his 11th four-plus wicket haul for India in ODIs.
- South African opener Quinton de Kock scored the joint most ODI centuries (7) against India alongside the former Sri Lankan batter Sanath Jayasuriya. Also, he scored the most centuries in ODIs as a full-time wicketkeeper-batter and levelled Sri Lanka’s former captain Kumar Sangakkara’s count of 23 centuries in the format.
- India’s unwanted streak of losing 20 ODI tosses finally came to an end under KL Rahul’s captaincy.
- Finally, the hosts prevented the visitors from securing an ODI series after 10 years, with their last defeat coming in 2015 under MS Dhoni’s captaincy.