With the One Day International tie between the Proteas and India tied at 1-1, the two cricket giants will be gearing for the final showdown that will decide who walks away as kings of the series.
Showdown on Thursday
The three-match series will be decided at the Boland Park in Paarl in the Western Cape on Thursday.
On Tuesday, SA produced an outstanding performance against India during their second ODI at St George’s Park in Gqeberha.
Exciting prospect Tony de Zorzi steered the Proteas to an eight-wicket victory with his maiden ODI century. De Zorzi recorded his first ever highest ODI score of an unbeaten 119 from 126 balls.
130-run partnership
The 26-year-old combined well with Reeza Hendricks, who smashed 52 from 81 balls to construct a record-setting 130-run partnership without a wicket falling.
After the match, De Zorzi expressed his excitement, saying reaching the century milestone got him emotional.
“It was quite a special feeling. Taking your helmet off and people screaming your name, you’re not used to it, so it was quite cool,” said De Zorzi.
“It’s the perfect place [Gqeberha] to come when you want to bounce back and feel like you’re at home.
“I wasn’t going to tear up when it was happening, but I was very excited, it was a full flood of emotions. I thought it might not look good to cry so I went the other way.”
India was bowled out for 211 runs in the 47th over, with opening batters Sai Sudharsan and captain KL Rahul both hitting half-centuries.
Second chance for India
However, the solid foundation that they had laid could not be repeated by the middle and lower order batsmen, as they crumbled to the Proteas attack led by Nandre Burger (3/30), Beuran Hendricks (2/34) and Keshav Maharaj (2/51).
The Indians will be looking to bounce back and come out guns blazing in Paarl and go into the 50-overs format on a winning momentum.
