by The Professor » Thu Dec 08, 2016 8:47 am
On this day in 2013 South Africa claimed a series win over India with an ODI victory.
Despite India selecting a slightly different team to the one that had lost to South Africa previously in the series, they could not mount a particularly challenging response and fell to a series loss. Whilst India played better, neither batsmen nor bowlers looked impressive.
Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock both scorched centuries and looked in perfect sync. De Kock offered one chance early on but that was the only option they had. Neither seam nor spin bothered them in the slightest. Neither of them went boundary crazy but just seized on the loose balls when they came.
Both players tried to push on after they got their hundred....but instead got out. This set out a little bit of a collapse and India, led by Mohammed Shami, started to claw it back. A late surge from Ryan McLaren and Vernon Philander of 25, of which 20 runs came from the last over. This took South Africa to 280.
Within nine overs India proceeded to lose Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane for just 34 runs. This effectively sealed the game.
It looked, at one point, that rain may have brought a premature end to the Indian innings but there was no luck for them. They, instead, crumbled to a 134 run loss.
"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."