South Africa beat India by five wickets in the fourth One Day International match with 15 balls remaining at Johannesburg on February 10, 2018.
This is South Africa's sixth straight victory on Pink Day.
Indian innings
Choosing to bat first after winning the toss, India scored 289 runs for the loss of seven wickets, giving the hosts a target of 290 runs to win. But the weather god had other plans. Rain stopped play and reduced the game to 28 overs, and South Africa was given a fresh target of 204 runs to win the game and keep the six-match series alive.
#TeamIndia 289/7 in 50 overs (Dhawan 109, Virat 75).
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 10, 2018
Updates - https://t.co/NgMP4fSSCo #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/Pj4Jy4D7mC
India dominated the game throughout with a fluent century from opener Shikhar Dhawan, but when it looked like India would pass the score of 300 easily, too many quick wickets fell, and the Indian march was stopped.
MS Dhoni, as usual, occupied the role of a finisher and scored 42 valuable runs and stopped the wickets from falling further.
Rabada and Ngidi took two wickets each. Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya got out for Rabada while SS Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane were victims of Ngidi.
The Proteas in pink struck back at the Wanderers to bring fresh life into the #SAvIND ODI series winning by 5 wickets to make it 3-1 with two matches remaining.#SAvIND REPORT ➡️ https://t.co/ByXdKyaWUm pic.twitter.com/ZYlBefPtPB
— ICC (@ICC) February 11, 2018
Rohit Sharma's poor run with the bat continues
Rohit Sharma failed yet again scoring just five runs for the fourth time in a row in this series and was trolled very badly on Twitter. He took 19 deliveries to score his five runs but also struggled throughout.
One hilarious tweet read "Rohit Sharma missed his double century by just 195 runs!"
Another tweet read, "Rohit Sharma on this tour: Tests - 11, 10, 10, 47 — ODIs - 20, 15, 0, 5"
Rohit Sharma Missed His Double Century By Just 195 Runs. 😂🙏🇮🇳#INDvSA #INDvsSA #SAvIND #SAvsIND
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) February 10, 2018
Analysts were quick to find out his flaws whenever he bats overseas and fails.
Former South Africa skipper and coach Keppler Wessels in an interview Cricinfo.com said, “He will always struggle to score runs in South Africa because of his footwork. He plants his front foot across to the off-side and in SA, the pitches always seam and bounce a bit. He’ll always struggle there because of his technique."
Minimum conditions required for Rohit Sharma to hit a Century!
— राटावोळीस्ट़! (@Nautankibaba) February 10, 2018
1. Eden Garden
2. Running-Out Kohli
3. Wife's Birthday
4. Wedding Anniversary
5. Karva Chauth
6. Valentines Day
South African innings
Chasing a target of 204 runs, the hosts, even though lost wickets at regular intervals, were well within reach of the target.
There was a small scare when Hashim Amla got out when the score was 77. Three wickets at the score of 77 runs and still many runs to be scored on a bouncy pitch was a bit of a tough ask considering the rain and the moist wicket.
But the experienced SA batsman scored 207/5 in 25.3 overs. David Miller was destructive with his 39 runs. He even smashed a six so far into the crowd that the ball had to be replaced.
Give it up for our man of the match @Heini22. What a performance, take a bow 👏👏👏👏 #SAvIND #PitchUpInPink pic.twitter.com/QsDmDniSVB
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) February 10, 2018
The weather helped perfectly for the hosts today; it came at a time when the Indians just finished their batting and stopped after the target runs were announced via D/L method.
This is Duckworth–Lewis method of calculation — in case there is rain, and the overs get reduced. The method assigns a target based on the wickets lost and in the overs scored.
Sample that for a traditional welcome as #TeamIndia arrive at Port Elizabeth for the 5th ODI against South Africa #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/vyz9ifBH30
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 11, 2018
Virat Kohli reached another milestone
Skipper Virat Kohli continued his glorious form and struck another 75 runs in the Indian innings. By scoring 50 runs in this innings, he became the 5th all-time highest scorer for India. He now stands at 9423 runs in ODI's. He has also scored 5554 runs in Tests in 112 innings that he has played.
Virat Kohli is now in the top five of India's ODI run-getters, moving past Azharuddinhttps://t.co/u9tgpDDMcm pic.twitter.com/gLKD7A5mTm
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) February 10, 2018
India is already ahead in the series 3-0, and they have no fear of losing the series.
With the series now at 3-1, India can either go ahead and win one of the remaining two games to win the series or even if they lose the rest of the two games the series will draw.
T20 series
After this series, the three Twenty20 matches will be played. The first game is scheduled on February 18. India has summoned T20 specialist Suresh Raina into the squad. Players may utilize this series to sharpen their skills for the upcoming Indian Premier League to be played in April 2018.