South African's clinch consolation win

It was an opportunity for South Africa to avert the embarrassment of losing the one-day series 0-3.
Pitted against a second string Indian team, depleted by seven regulars, the Proteas did not let go slip the chance, and ended their tour with a convincing 90-run win in the third ODI at the Sardar Patel Stadium here on Saturday.
AB de Villiers 102 (59b, 11x4 3x6) and Jacques Kallis 104 (94b, 5x4 3x6), played a contrasting innings as Proteas ended their tour on a similar note to the way they had started in Nagpur.
Once De Villiers and Kallis, with important contributions from opener Loots Bosman and Hashim Amla, had given South Africa their highest score, 365/2 in 50 overs, against India, there seemed to be no contest.
Without Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, the target was always going to be too much for the young Indian batsmen. They showed flashes of their ability but eventually folded up for 275 in 44.3 overs as the South African bowlers complemented their batsmen with the series’ best bowling performance. Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay didn’t last long, but Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, added 95 for the third wicket. Sharma 48 (61b 3x4), Kohli 57 (71b 4x4 1x6), and Suresh Raina 49 (30b 5x4 1x6) all played cameo roles but it would have needed a special effort from one of them to even get closer to the target. They also needed the experience of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to fire on the day, but Dale Steyn sent back Dhoni and Kohli in the space of five balls to reduce the Indians to 157/5. From there on the contest was over for the hosts, as South Africans completed the formalities with more than five overs to spare.
Earlier, De Villiers set the stage on fire after Bosman and Amla had done the early damage. Dhoni’s fixation of going with only three specialist bowlers, while beefing up the batting order was bound to backfire and it did on a day when there was nothing much to lose for the skipper. Having said that, it was the part-time spin bowling duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Yusuf Pathan, who were more disciplined compared to the three fast bowlers.
Sreesanth, recovered from a mild fever to take the field, with rookies Sudeep Tyagi, playing his fourth match and Abhimanyu Mithun making his debut, in place of Ashish Nehra.
Bosman, promoted ahead of Herschelle Gibbs, tonked four sixes and also nine fours in his 46-ball 68 before failing to clear long-off against Pathan, after a 113-run opening stand while Amla contributed 87 (103b 8x4). De Villers took to the pacers as he punched and pulled to race to his sixth and the seventh-fastest hundred in ODIs.
Kallis, on the other end was as solid ever, quietly reaching his century in the midst of De Villiers’ mayhem. Without looking explosive theKallis put on 173 for the third wicket as the duo averted the ignominy of a whitewash.

SCOREBOARD

South Africa
Loots Bosman c Ravindra Jadeja b Yusuf Pathan 68, Hashim Amla c Murali Vijay b Ravindra Jadeja 87, Jacques Kallis n.o. 104, AB de Villiers n.o. 102
Extras (lb-2, nb-2) 4
Total (in 50 overs)
365/2
FOW: 1-113, 2-192
Bowling: S.Sreesanth 9-0-83-0, Sudeep Tyagi 8-0-59-0, Abhimanyu Mithun 8-0-63-0, Ravindra Jadeja 10-0-53-1, Yusuf Pathan 10-0-66-1, Virat Kohli 2-0-11-0, Rohit Sharma 3-0-28-0.
 

India

Dinesh Karthik c Hashim Amla b Dale Steyn 25, Murali Vijay c Mark Boucher b Lonwabo Tsotsobe 25, Virat Kohli c Mark Boucher b Dale Steyn 57, Rohit Sharma c Lonwabo Tsotsobe b Johan Botha 48, Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Mark Boucher b Dale Steyn 9, Suresh Raina c (sub) Wayne Parnell b Johan Botha 49, Yusuf Pathan c Dale Steyn b Lonwabo Tsotsobe 5, Ravindra Jadeja c Mark Boucher b Lonwabo Tsotsobe 36, S. Sreesanth lbw b van der Merwe 1, Abhimanyu Mithun st Mark Boucher b van der Merwe 24, Sudeep Tyagi n.o. 1
Extras (lb-5, w-4) 9
Total (in 44.3 overs) 275/10
FOW: 1-22, 2-40, 3-135, 4-156, 5-157, 6-179, 7-233, 8-237, 9-273, 10-275.
Bowling: D. Steyn 8-1-37-3, L. Tsotsobe 9.3-0-58-3, M. Morkel 7-0-48-0, R. van der Merwe 10-0-47-2, J. Botha 10-0-80-2.