India registered a 2-1 series win against South Africa after opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s maiden hundred in one-day internationals secured a nine-wicket haul in the third and final match in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
Jaiswal, who played second fiddle to an opening stand of 155 with Rohit Sharma (75), smashed an unbeaten 116 as India chased down a target of 271 runs with more than 10 overs to spare.
“The most pleasing thing about the series, is how we held our nerve,” India captain KL Rahul said at the presentation ceremony.
“South Africa came out with the intention of putting us under pressure, a result didn’t go our way but we weren’t too upset.”
Earlier, Quinton de Kock hit a quick-fire 106, but South Africa were bowled out for one below 270 in the 48th over.
In a remarkable prelude, India ended an unfortunate streak of 20 consecutive lost tosses in ODIs.
Skipper Rahul punched the air in celebration and opted to field to spare his bowlers the predicament of having to operate with a wet ball once the evening cool had set in.
South Africa’s innings got off to a shaky start with the early departure of Ryan Rickelton, but De Kock and Temba Bavuma, who made 48, made centuries to steady their innings.
Ravindra Jadeja removed Bavuma to break the partnership and Prasidh Krishna (4-66), who had bled 27 in his first two overs, returned to dismiss Matthew Breetzke, Aiden Markram and De Kock in a decisive spell to turn the match around.
Left-armer Kuldeep Yadav (4-41) then cleaned up the tail, guiding South Africa to their first sub-300 total of the series.
India, who lost the previous Test series 2-0, started strongly in their chase with Rohit leading the way.
The 38-year-old former India captain put together a stylish 75 – his fourth fifty-plus score in five innings – anchoring a big opening stand with Jaiswal, who was happy to bide his time at the other end.
Rohit departed after hitting his slog sweep against spinner Keshav Maharaj, but Jaiswal became the sixth Indian to score a hundred in all three international formats of the game.
Virat Kohli, now exclusively active in the ODI format like Rohit, walked off to thunderous applause and made a typically fluent 65 not out, which followed his hundreds in Ranchi and Raipur.
“To play the way I have in the series is the most satisfying thing for me,” said man of the series Kohli.
“I feel really free in my mind. I haven’t played like this in two or three years.”
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