India captain Shikhar Dhawan lauded his bowlers’ stellar performance in their seven-wicket win over South Africa in the decider of the ODI series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Tuesday.
After a 30-minute delay due to a wet outfield, Dhawan’s decision to bowl first on a damp pitch was justified by Kuldeep Yadav (4/18), Shahbaz Ahmed (2/32) and Washington Sundar (2/15). South Africa were all out for just 99 runs in 27.1 overs.
Mohammed Siraj’s 2/17 as well sent South Africa into the dugout on their lowest ODI score against India. It is also the lowest ODI score ever recorded at this venue, as the visitors fell back in the match for 33 runs losing their last six wickets.
Dhawan said, “I am proud of our players, the way they played the match is commendable. We did well in the first match, we dropped a few catches, but we never really put pressure on ourselves. We did this process. But tried to stay.”
Dhawan further said, “I am enjoying the journey with the team. I will try to keep doing well for my team. The bowlers did a great job on such tough batting pitches.”
Stand-in South Africa captain David Miller was disappointed with his team being all-out by India in New Delhi. The defeat also added to the pressure on South Africa to win their remaining five matches to get a chance to qualify directly for next year’s ODI World Cup in India.
Miller said, “It is disappointing to end the series with just 99 runs. The pitch was helping the spinners. It was difficult to play, as it was pitch cover due to rain. We were really good in some areas. We had to. One needs to bat well only in ODIs.”
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