An excellent century by Aiden Markram, together with breezy fifties from Matthew Breetzke and Dewald Brevis, helped South Africa pull off a mammoth chase of 359 and beat India by 4 wickets to degree the three-game sequence 1-1 on the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Worldwide Stadium in Raipur on Wednesday. After centuries by Virat Kohli and Ruturaj Gaikwad propelled India to 358/5 in 50 overs, Markram anchored the pursuit with an outstanding 110 off 98 balls, whereas Breetzke’s fluent 68 and Dewald Brevis’ enterprising 54 supplied the middle-order muscle to finish the chase with 4 balls to spare.
Markram’s century was the fulcrum of the Proteas chase, constructed on partnerships of 101 and 70 with Temba Bavuma and Breetzke, and capitalized on being dropped on 53 by Yashasvi Jaiswal to the fullest. Breetzke and Brevis then stitched collectively a 92-run stand for the fourth wicket to maintain South Africa forward of the asking charge in dewy situations, as India made pricey lapses with the ball and within the area.
Corbin Bosch utilized ending touches by hitting an unbeaten 29 to make sure the guests accomplished their third-highest ODI chase and silenced the Raipur crowd. Chasing 359 additionally equals the joint-highest rating ever chased towards India in ODIs, alongside Australia’s profitable pursuit in Mohali in 2019.
South Africa’s chase was off to a flier when Markram and Quinton de Kock hit 5 boundaries between themselves within the first three overs. However India struck when Arshdeep Singh compelled de Kock to hit over leg-side, and the vanguard was caught by mid‑on and dismissed him for eight. Although Arshdeep and Harshit Rana continued to bother Markram, the right-hander produced crisp strokes as soon as the brand new ball risk was gone.
He and Temba Bavuma took a boundary every off Prasidh Krishna, as South Africa ended the primary Energy-play at 51/1. With dew setting in, Markram grew in confidence towards spin by taking boundaries off them constantly to succeed in his half‑century off 52 balls. Kuldeep Yadav’s introduction supplied India little respite, as a dropped catch by Jaiswal at lengthy‑on gave Markram a reprieve on 53.
Prasidh ultimately acquired his first wicket by dismissing Bavuma for 46 with a brief ball, which the batter hooked to deep mid-wicket. Markram, nevertheless, marched ahead with clear hanging towards Prasidh, Washington Sundar, and Ravindra Jadeja to get his first hundred as an ODI opener in 88 balls. His subdued celebration mirrored the duty forward – of getting South Africa dwelling in a tall chase.
However Markram fell for 110 when he was foxed by a intelligent off-cutter from Rana and holed out to lengthy‑on. With the Proteas pacing the chase nicely underneath dew‑laden situations, Brevis lifted the tempo by hanging Kuldeep for a straight six and ramping Arshdeep over the keeper. Breetzke, extra circumspect towards spin, punished Prasidh by hitting boundaries to maintain the speed in examine.
Whereas Breetzke reached his seventh fifty in simply 11 ODI innings, Brevis showcased his aptitude with twin sixes off Rana. He raced to his half‑century off simply 33 balls by lofting Kuldeep over long-off for six. However on the very subsequent ball, he fell making an attempt one other large hit, and holed out to lengthy‑on to provide Kuldeep his first wicket.
Breetzke and Tony de Zorzi continued to launch boundaries, earlier than the previous was trapped lbw by Prasidh for 68, whereas Marco Jansen holed out to long-off towards Arshdeep. Although de Zorzi needed to retire damage resulting from a hamstring damage, Bosch hit three boundaries and knocked off the remaining runs to take South Africa over the road and make Saturday’s conflict in Visakhapatnam a tantalizing decider.
Transient scores:
India 358/5 in 50 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 105, Virat Kohli 102, KL Rahul 66 not out; Marco Jansen 2-63, Nandre Burger 1-43) misplaced to South Africa 359/6 in 49.2 overs (Aiden Markram 110, Matthew Breetzke 68, Dewald Brevis 54, Temba Bavuma 48; Arshdeep Singh 2-54, Prasidh Krishna 2-82) by 4 wickets