South Africa claimed a first-ever bilateral one-day international series win in India in record-breaking fashion with three of their batsmen hitting centuries in the decider in Mumbai.
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Opener Quinton de Kock gave the tourists a dream start with a score of 109, while Faf du Plessis defied a crippling bout of cramp to pile up 133 and captain AB de Villiers weighed in with a rapid 119 as South Africa racked up a mammoth 438 for four.
Ajinkya Rahane struck 87 off 58 deliveries after opener Shikhar Dhawan had hit a run-a-ball 60 but India were always behind the asking rate and were dismissed for 224, going down by 241 runs in the five-match Freedom Series.
South Africa’s total, which matched their 438 for nine against Australia in 2006, was their sixth over 400 and one run short of their highest ever ODI score of 439 for two against West Indies in Johannesburg earlier this year.
It was the third highest total in ODI history – Sri Lanka still hold that record with their 443 for nine against the Netherlands in 2006 – and the biggest score ever conceded by India.
The first four matches in the series had been won by the team batting first so it was no surprise that De Villiers decided to do the same after winning the toss and the tourists were in control from the start, racing to 33 off the first four overs, during which Hashim Amla became the fastest batsman to 6,000 ODI runs.
Sixty-eight per cent of De Kock’s runs came in boundaries as he registered his fifth hundred against India in only nine innings and, after he was caught on the long-off boundary, Du Plessis, who had brought up his fourth fifty of the series, accelerated away to 133 off 115 deliveries before succumbing to cramp.
De Villiers went to his century shortly afterwards, off just 57 deliveries, and struck 11 sixes in taking his score to 119 before feathering an edge to wicket-keeper MS Dhoni.
Congratulations Man of the Series, @ABdeVilliers17. #ProteaFire #INDvSA #TheDecider pic.twitter.com/VxrZieuUjZ
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) October 25, 2015
Farhaan Behardien then brought up the 400 after being dropped on the boundary by Suresh Raina and struck the 20th six of the innings as South Africa piled up 144 runs in the last 10 overs.
“It was great to put up such a big score in the decider,” said Du Plessis. “Quinny was amazing, his strike rate was fantastic, and it was the same with AB. My role was to just anchor the innings.”
Kagiso Rabada took four for 41 and fellow opening bowler Dale Steyn had three for 38 as India were dismissed in 36 overs.
