OPENER Yashasvi Jaiswal hit his maiden one-day international century as India clinched the three-match series 2-1 with a crushing nine-wicket win over South Africa on Saturday (6).
Chasing 271 for victory, India rode on Jaiswal's unbeaten 116 and his opening stand of 155 with Rohit Sharma, who hit 75, to achieve the target with 10.1 overs to spare in Visakhapatnam.
The left-handed Jaiswal reached his hundred in 111 balls as he jumped in joy and raised the bat to soak in the applause in just his fourth ODI since his debut earlier this year.
"I really enjoyed and I'm really grateful and blessed," said player of the match Jaiswal. "(The) Last two games I couldn't convert and I was thinking how I can balance the innings. Sometimes I was thinking of attacking, then run the singles. I have to control my thoughts on what shots I can play."
Virat Kohli, who struck back-to-back hundreds in the previous two matches, hit the winning boundary to finish 65 not out from 45 balls.
The 23-year-old Jaiswal, who now has tons in all three international formats, struggled at the start with Rohit leading the batting charge to raise his 61st ODI half-century.
Rohit got past 20,000 international runs during the knock to be only the fourth Indian after Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli and Rahul Dravid to achieve the feat.
Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj cut short Rohit's innings after seven fours and three sixes in his 73-ball knock.
Jaiswal switched gears after his fifty and hit a string of boundaries to ease into the target.
In-form Kohli bossed the opposition bowling with six fours and three sixes to end the series with 302 runs and the player of the series award.
India's Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates after scoring a century (100 runs) during the third one-day international (ODI) cricket match between India and South Africa at the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on December 6, 2025. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
The bowlers set up victory after left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and fast bowler Prasidh Krishna took four wickets each to bowl out South Africa for 270 in 47.5 overs.
With the series level on 1-1, India finally won an ODI toss after losing 20 in a row as skipper KL Rahul broke the scarcely believable jinx and put South Africa in to bat.
Opener Quinton de Kock made 106 off 89 balls and put on 113 runs with skipper Temba Bavuma, who made 48, as South Africa looked set for a big total at 168-2 but the batting collapsed.
"We probably should have been smarter as we gifted wickets," said Bavuma. "The Indian team showed their quality, kudos to them."
Left-handed De Kock raised his seventh ODI ton against India with a six off Harshit Rana and finished his knock with eight fours and six hits over the fence.
Krishna struck twice in one over including Matthew Breetzke for 24 and Aiden Markram for one, before he bowled De Kock soon after the batsman's attacking hundred.
Dewald Brevis, who hit 29, and Marco Jansen (17) attempted to rebuild the innings in their stand of 35 but Kuldeep sent the two back in the space of three deliveries to swing the momentum once again in India's favour.
Kuldeep (4-41) and Krishna combined to bowl out the opposition with Maharaj unbeaten on 20.
The ODI series win is some consolation for the 2-0 Test whitewash by the Proteas although it was achieved after the team was boosted by the presence of veterans Kohli and Rohit who now play just the 50-over format.
The two teams now head into five T20 matches starting on Tuesday (9) in Cuttack.
(AFP)
