<p>Left-handed batsman Quinton de Kock grafted his way to a century and put on 118 runs with Faf du Plessis to power South Africa to a decent 270 for 7 in the third ODI cricket match against India here today.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The visiting team's wicketkeeper-batsman played the sheet-anchor's role to perfection in hot and sweltering conditions at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium to make 103 in 118 balls after the visitors opted to bat first.<br /><br />Courtesy De Kock's 9th hundred in his 50th ODI appearance along with Du Plessis' 63-ball-60, the visitors did well to set up a fighting target.<br /><br />But the loss of three wickets just before the slog overs, including that of the centurion, arrested their progress though Farhan Behardien (33 off 36 balls) played a useful knock in the end.<br /><br />Prior to the century partnership between de Kock – who hit 11 fours and a six - and Du Plessis, the former put on 72 runs for the first wicket with promoted David Miller (33) to provide the tourists with a good beginning.<br /><br />De Kock was run out with the final 10 overs to come soon after du Plessis was dismissed and this was followed by the departure of their captain A B de Villiers, sent back by Axar Patel, off the next ball of the innings.<br /><br />The clutch of three quick wickets in the space of just 9 balls, left South Africa tottering at 210 for 5 with the last Powerplay just up.<br /><br />Towards the end the visitors added 60 runs, including 35 in the last five, but fell well short of the 300 mark that they were aiming for.<br /><br />Earlier, Indian spinners, Harbhajan Singh (1/41 in 10 overs) in particular, applied the brakes in time, after which the Proteas steadily built up the score before losing the three wickets in a hurry.<br /><br />Choosing to bat first, South Africa were given a good start by their new all-leftie opening pair of Quinton de Kock and David Miller, promoted up the order after his twin failures earlier in the series, who put on 72 runs.<br /><br />The new ball came on to the bat quite well and the duo flourished a bit to score a few boundary hits, including a six over square leg by de Kock off Bhuvaneshwar Kumar.<br /><br />The scoring rate dropped significantly once Harbhajan, who bowled pretty impressively by varying his pace and had an extended opening spell of 1 for 31 in 8 overs.<br /><br />With leg-spinner Amit Mishra (1/38 in 10 overs) brought on at the other end, and with the ball getting older the going became a little bit tougher for the South Africans after the brisk start that helped raise the 50 in the 9th over. <br /></p>
<p>Left-handed batsman Quinton de Kock grafted his way to a century and put on 118 runs with Faf du Plessis to power South Africa to a decent 270 for 7 in the third ODI cricket match against India here today.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The visiting team's wicketkeeper-batsman played the sheet-anchor's role to perfection in hot and sweltering conditions at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium to make 103 in 118 balls after the visitors opted to bat first.<br /><br />Courtesy De Kock's 9th hundred in his 50th ODI appearance along with Du Plessis' 63-ball-60, the visitors did well to set up a fighting target.<br /><br />But the loss of three wickets just before the slog overs, including that of the centurion, arrested their progress though Farhan Behardien (33 off 36 balls) played a useful knock in the end.<br /><br />Prior to the century partnership between de Kock – who hit 11 fours and a six - and Du Plessis, the former put on 72 runs for the first wicket with promoted David Miller (33) to provide the tourists with a good beginning.<br /><br />De Kock was run out with the final 10 overs to come soon after du Plessis was dismissed and this was followed by the departure of their captain A B de Villiers, sent back by Axar Patel, off the next ball of the innings.<br /><br />The clutch of three quick wickets in the space of just 9 balls, left South Africa tottering at 210 for 5 with the last Powerplay just up.<br /><br />Towards the end the visitors added 60 runs, including 35 in the last five, but fell well short of the 300 mark that they were aiming for.<br /><br />Earlier, Indian spinners, Harbhajan Singh (1/41 in 10 overs) in particular, applied the brakes in time, after which the Proteas steadily built up the score before losing the three wickets in a hurry.<br /><br />Choosing to bat first, South Africa were given a good start by their new all-leftie opening pair of Quinton de Kock and David Miller, promoted up the order after his twin failures earlier in the series, who put on 72 runs.<br /><br />The new ball came on to the bat quite well and the duo flourished a bit to score a few boundary hits, including a six over square leg by de Kock off Bhuvaneshwar Kumar.<br /><br />The scoring rate dropped significantly once Harbhajan, who bowled pretty impressively by varying his pace and had an extended opening spell of 1 for 31 in 8 overs.<br /><br />With leg-spinner Amit Mishra (1/38 in 10 overs) brought on at the other end, and with the ball getting older the going became a little bit tougher for the South Africans after the brisk start that helped raise the 50 in the 9th over. <br /></p>