IND vs SA

KL Rahul collects the trophy with a beaming smile on his face. He takes it to the team who are standing behind the winners hoarding. Now Jaiswal takes it and he lifts it up in the air, he is the youngest member in the squad remember. All smiles in the Indian camp, this has been a terrific result for them in the end and some conversations have rightly been put to bed as the stalwarts have returned and re-marked their territory. Guys like Kuldeep Yadav (9 wickets) and Arshdeep Singh (5 wickets) have continued to grow in stature and it was a brilliant comeback from Prasidh Krishna in this third and final ODI. Not to forget, hundred from Ruturaj Gaikwad in the last one to go along with Jaiswal's today. All in all, a fruitful series for the hosts and a pretty solid one for the South Africans as well who in the words of their skipper have ticked six out of ten boxes.

The action now shifts to the T20 format with five matches scheduled, the first one of them will be at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack in a couple of days time on Tuesday (Dec 9). We will be there to bring you the coverage as always. For now, this is Sourabh Agrawal signing off on behalf of Darpan Tikiya and the entire team. Cheers!

KL Rahul (India Captain): "I don't think the team has looked at me and smiled so much after they did after winning the toss today. You can see how the ground is right now, it was good to give the bowlers a break. It was a good wicket, what we did well was to pick up wickets in bunches. With teams like that it could wither be a 400 chase or they play too many shots and get out. Prasidh picked 2-3 wickets in the middle which was crucial and then Kuldeep with the wickets, that's how you contain teams. The way he (de Kock) was batting, he got out on a team score of 180 and he was already on 120, he was batting really well. Also showed how easy it was for the set batter. That has been the most pleasing thing that how we have been able to hold our nerves under pressure, their batters came hard at us but we held our nerves. One result did not go our way but as I said at the toss we were not too upset. The stuff that we did, the processes tht we followed paid off."

Virat Kohli is the Player of the Series for his 302 runs in 3 matches, here are his words: "Just playing the way I have been in this series has been the most satisfying thing for me. I don't think I have played at this level for the last 2-3 years, my mind feels really free. The whole game is coming together nicely, very exciting to build on. Something that I have always tried to do, maintain my own standards and make an impact for the team and I know when I can bat like that in the middle it helps the team in a big way. I can bat long and according to the situation. Makes me feel like any situation in the middle, I have what it feels to bring it in the team's favor. When you play for that long, you are going to have many phases when you doubt yourselves as a batsman specially because you are relying on one mistake. You tend to go in a space when you feel like I am not good enough but that is the beauty of sports. You have to keep overcoming the fear and get into a zone again to play confidently. It is a whole journey of learning and getting to know yourself better, becoming better as a person. I can vouch for the fact that being a batsman I have realized so much about myself, about my thinking patterns, I have relaized a lot. I have had many phases that I have doubted myself but I have never been shy to admit it. (On six hitting) When I play freely, I know can hit sixes. I just wanted to have some fun and take some risks, push my bounadries. (which innings would he pick out of the three) The first one at Ranchi, I had not played a game since Australia. To come out and start hitting the ball well, it unlocks the zone you are craving for if the risks come off. Ranchi was very special for me, it opened me up. (on the must-win game) It always has brought the best out of us, you never want it to be 1-1 but if it is, you feel like you want to do something special for the team. That's how we (him and Rohit) have always felt, happy for us and want to continue along."

Yashasvi Jaiswal is the Player of the Match. He says, "Yes, of course. (A burden is off his shoulders) I really enjoyed it and I feel blessed. We (him and Rohit) have been chatting a lot about how we can play, what tempo we can play at. I got starts in the first two ODIs, but did not convert it. Sometimes I was thinking, I'll attack, sometimes, I was thinking about taking the single. I had to control my thoughts. The minute Virat (Kohli) paaji came, he started playing his shots. He gave me small-small targets that I needed to focus on."

Temba Bavuma (South Africa captain): "We wanted to make it a lot more exciting today. From a batting point of view, we did not have enough runs. As we have seen through the series, it tends to get easier for batting under the lights. We could have been better with the ball in the first 10 overs. Kudos to India for batting really well. We could have been a lot more smarter with the bat. In the first two ODIs, whenever the spinners have come on, we have looked to take them on. You never want to get bowled out within the 50 overs. We have some young faces in our team. We always talk about how we want to play — we want to take the attack to the opposition. India is a quality opposition. If there are 10 boxes, I'd say we have ticked 6 of those."

Prasidh Krishna says, "(On the tough start with the ball) It was really hard for me. There were a couple of bad balls and a couple of good shots. But that is the thing with cricket. You can always come back. I tried to bowl more at the stumps and tried not to give room. I won't blame it on dew or the pitch being harder. As professionals, we are expected to overcome these challenges. A lot of credit goes to Arshdeep and Harshit for the way they started. Then, Kuldeep came back to take wickets. We have done well as a bowling unit. I was under pressure (coming into this game). The talk was about what we can do better. The batting has always been good. Rohit was due for a big one. Jaiswal was always looking good in the nets and we all know what the king (Kohli) can do."

MATCH SUMMARY

India (271/1 in 39.5 overs) beat South Africa (270 all out in 47.5 overs) by 9 wickets

Yashasvi Jaiswal 116*(121) | Kuldeep Yadav 4/41(10)
Quinton de Kock 106(89) | Keshav Maharaj 1/44(10)

PHEW! That finished in a jiffy. Kohli came out like a man on a mission, ends up on a 45-ball 65 and people might say that there was a third consecutive hundred for him for the taking but there were simply not enough runs on the board, we will never know.

However, he finishes the series at a record-breaking personal best 302 runs in 3 matches at a mind-boggling average of 151 and a strike rate of 117 to go with it. He truly rolled back the years and buried any discussion regarding his future if there were any. Some of his shots were like gun shots, he was charging down the track to the pacers and hitting them into the stands. The most special one of them was the no-look six as he parked Bosch into the stands over mid-wicket.

But the night will belong to the 23-year old Yashasvi Jaiswal who became just the 6th Indian to notch up tons in all three formats as he got his maiden ODI ton and remained unbeaten at the end. He displayed remarkable patience and discipline against the new ball when Jansen and Ngidi were getting some movement and bounce. Went through the gears once he reached 50 and then there was no stopping him as his innings progressed.

Take nothing away from Rohit Sharma, he scored a splendid 75 at more than run-a-ball and stitched a brilliant 155-run opening stand with the youngster. He dished out some of his trademark shots and kind of helped Jaiswal along in the partnership. He did miss out on a century but his series too ends brilliantly, a couple of fifties and a total of 146 runs at an average nearing 49.

South Africa knew that they did not have enough runs on the board, their only chance was some early wickets with the new ball but they simply could not get them as Rohit and Jaiswal stood firm. Maharaj was the pick of the bowlers with 1/44 in his 10 overs through the middle but that was never going to be enough as the rest of the bowlers travelled all along the park.

8:40 PM IST: India win by 9 wickets with 61 balls to spare and win the 3-match series 2-1.

Handshakes all around, South Africa have been blown away in Vizag. Kohli and Jaiswal get the job done in the end, there was always going to be one winner tonight. Out comes the Indian skipper KL Rahul and he has a big smile on his face. This has been an absolute masterclass from the home team.

39.5 Lungisani Ngidi to Virat Kohli, THRASHED AWAY! FOUR! India seal it with 61 balls to spare. The series is theirs and the spectators in the stands are in a frenzy. Kohli pushes Jaiswal ahead of him and asks him to lead as the two walk off the field post the handshakes. After all, this night has indeed belonged to the southpaw. Though, the fans must be delighted about how good the senior pros — Kohli and Rohit — looked too. Anyway, coming back to this ball — short and wide, off-pace. Kohli was on the charge when he stretched his arms out and slapped it towards the cover boundary. 

39.4 Lungisani Ngidi to Virat Kohli, HIGH QUALITY SHOT! FOUR! Leg-cutter on a full length. Kohli stepped out confidently and converted it into a half-volley before creaming it through cover.

39.2 Lungisani Ngidi to Yashasvi Jaiswal, off-pace ball on a slightly fuller length, down the leg side. Nudged towards fine leg for one. Leg bye called.

39.1 Lungisani Ngidi to Yashasvi Jaiswal, CARVED FOR FOUR! No stopping Jaiswal now. Shorter side of good length, outside off, from over the wicket. The batter thrashed it to the backward point boundary.