Cape Town, February 8: Virat Kohli's masterclass and a pouncing pack of wrist-spinners ensured a 124-run win for India in the third ODI here, giving the visitors an unassailable 3-0 lead and taking them one step closer to a maiden series triumph in South Africa. Catch the video highlights of the third one-day international in Cape Town here.
Kohli smashed an unbeaten 160 off 159 balls on a challenging surface, propelling India to 303 for six. The 29-year-old during his innings ran 100 singles displaying his fitness and red-hot form. It was the 34th ODI hundred for the Indian captain, who is now 15 shy of Sachin Tendulkar's mark of 49.
Kohli has been simply unstoppable in the 50-over format of late and today's match-winning effort was his fourth three-figure score in the last six ODI s. It was also his second hundred of the series and third of the tour.
While most Indian batsmen struggled after South Africa opted to bowl, Kohli made batting look easy. Shikhar Dhawan too stood out with a fluent 76 off 63 balls. It was Dhawan's second fifty of the series.
After failing miserably in first two ODIs, South Africa got off to a better start in Cape Town. They began the chase on a promising note with captain Aiden Markram (32) and JP Duminy (51) sharing a 78-run stand for the second wicket. However, post seeing off the pacers their sorry form continued against spinners.
Not reading the spinners led to South African batsmen being defensive which pushed the run-rate up. From a healthy 79 for one in the 17th over, the hosts were reduced to 129 for five in the 33rd over, ending all their hopes of a recovery. The home side surrendered to Yuzvendra Chahal (4/46) and Kuldeep Yadav (4/23) to end way behind at 170 all out in 40 overs.