After losing the second test, India was all set to play the decider match in Newlands, Cape Town. India won the toss and chose to bat first. Openers gave a good start initially, but it became a blow when KL Rahul & Mayank Agarwal went out for 12 & 15 runs.
Luckily, Partnership between Pujara & Kohli was solid and they were able to put up 62 runs on the board. Virat Kohli stood as a lone warrior for India scoring 79 runs off 201 balls. India kept losing wickets at regular intervals and this led to a score of 223. On SA’s side, Rabada picked 4 wickets and Marco Jansen picked 3 wickets.
However, South Africa’s batting performance was also not so impressive. Keegan Peterson was able to score a brilliant 72 runs. On India’s side, Jasprit Bumrah had a 5 wicket haul, putting stop to South Africa’s batting hopes.
But followed by this, India’s performance in batting was quite disappointing. Rishab Pant, the savior managed to play an awesome innings scoring a century. South Africa’s bowlers- Elgar, Keegan, Rabada managed to restrict India at the score of 198.
South Africa had a target of 212 to chase within the remaining 2 days, which was pretty much a cakewalk for the team. Elgar and Markam provided a good start. This was followed by the partnership of Elgar and Peterson whose partnership added 78 runs before the end of the day’s play. On Day 3, South Africa was at 101/2.
On the 4th day, South Africa looked comfortable and there was a half-century partnership between Peterson and Rassie Van der Dussen. This helped South Africa to move towards a comfortable victory. They also won the series by 2-1.
Currently, India is in 5th place with 49.07 points in the ICC World test championship table.
