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Commentator: Nikhil Kalro
9.30pm So, South Africa back up the Springboks' fantastic comeback win yesterday with one of their own. AB de Villiers does a Fourie du Preez, great leadership. A thoroughly dominant bowling performance in those last 20 overs. India were favourites for most of that chase and played really well to get into that position but were squeezed like a wet rag in those last few overs. They employed a terrific gameplan of going short and full on middle and leg with a 4-5 field and that did not look like it was working but they soon got those lengths perfect. Dhoni and Kohli were in control of that chase but this plan threw them off their game, as they were stalled. The middle order struggled to find any momentum after both of them fell and Morne Morkel was superb. Three consecutive games won by matches lost in the chase, all of which should have been won by the batting side but well, the quality of bowling has been different from a few months ago. Two sterling performances in today's game with both bat and ball for SA.
Morne Morkel is the Man of the Match: Really worked hard this week on mixing it up a bit. I'm a rhythm bowler and need things to click to operate. We had a couple of gameplans and it is important to execute and we did that. I suppose you live by the sword, you die with the sword, he is a big hitter down the ground and had to vary it. Every time I do well, especially against India is very special. And it will last with me forever.
MS Dhoni: I thought 270 was a par score, the wicket kept getting lower and slower and the dew didn't help us out. It became a bit two-paced and become difficult to play the big shot. We are looking for batsmen to play at 5, 6 and 7. Till they play there, we won;t know who is a good bet over there. And we are looking to give chances as well so it's a tricky one. Jinx batted well at 3 but Virat couldn't score, this is something we will have to look at. I thought our bowlers did well, maybe a bit more dew would have made it difficult. They batted when the wicket was at its best and they also couldn't find runs at the death.
AB de Villiers: Very special batting performance. Quinton answered a alot of questions just like how Quinton can do. We struggled between the 37th and 44th over but found our way at the end. To have Miller up front was out of the box thinking from us. We were looking at 250 as a par, the way we fought back with the ball was special.
David Miller did not break his drought of international half-centuries but could still find himself at the top of South Africa's ODI order more often in the future as part of a new strategy which involves saving the most skilled players to face spin
Stats highlights from the third ODI between India and South Africa in Rajkot
Plays of the Day from the third ODI between India and South Africa, in Rajkot
South Africa defended 86 runs off the last ten overs to ensure Quinton de Kock's first international century of 2015 and fourth in seven innings against India was not in vain
3.60
India's scoring rate between over No. 30 and 39. They played 35 dots in those ten overs.
11
No. of fifty-plus scores by Dhoni batting at No. 4 in ODIs in just 20 inns. He averages 68.4 from this position.
4
No. of times Dhawan has been dismissed by Morkel in ODIs, including thrice in this series - the most any bowler has dismissed him.
65
Runs scored by SA in 11 overs after the 39th. They were 205 for 3 at that stage. Only three overs went for six or more runs.
7
Least innings taken by a batsman to 4 ODI hundreds against a team. Tendulkar against Kenya, de Kock against India.
7
Number of ODIs it took de Kock to make 500 runs versus India - the least by any batsman. Gary Kirsten, the previous fastest, had taken 8.
2000
The last time a SA batsman made 3 50+ scores in a bilateral ODI series in India before Du Plessis: Gary Kirsten got 1 hundred and 2 fifties.
4
No. fifty-plus scores by de Kock against India out of his 12 in ODIs. He had averaged 68.66 before this game against them.
137
Stumpings in international cricket by MS Dhoni. Only Sangakkara (139) has more.
2008
The last time Amla batted at No. 3 for SA in ODIs - in his first-two matches. He had made 25 runs at No. 3 before this match.
