India registered a 2-1 series win against South Africa after opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s maiden hundred in one-day internationals secured their nine-wicket haul in the third and final match in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
Jaiswal, who played second fiddle in an opening stand of 155 with Rohit Sharma (75), smashed an unbeaten 116 as India chased a 271-run target with more than 10 overs to spare.
“The most pleasing thing about the series is how we held our nerve,” India captain KL Rahul said at the presentation ceremony.
“South Africa came out with an intent to put us under pressure, a result didn’t go our way but we weren’t too upset.”
Earlier, Quinton de Kock hit a fresh 106, yet South Africa were dismissed for 270 below par in the 48th over.
In a remarkable prelude, India ended an unfortunate sequence of 20 consecutive lost tosses in ODIs.
Skipper Rahul punched the air to celebrate and chose to field to spare his bowlers the predicament of having to operate with a wet ball when the evening dew set in.
South Africa’s innings got off to a shaky start with the early departure of Ryan Rickelton, but De Kock and Temba Bavuma, who made 48, forged a century to stabilize their innings.
Ravindra Jadeja removed Bavuma to break the partnership and Prasidh Krishna (4-66), who bled 27 in his first two overs, bounced back to dismiss Matthew Breetzke, Aiden Markram and De Kock in a crucial period to turn the game on its head.
Left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav (4-41) then cleaned up the tail and sent South Africa to their first sub-300 total of the series.
India, who lost the previous Test series 2-0, started strongly in their chase with Rohit leading the way.
The 38-year-old former India captain compiled a polished 75 – his fourth fifty-plus score in five innings – anchoring a big opening stand with Jaiswal, who was happy to wait at the other end.
Rohit departed after unleashing his stroke sweep against spinner Keshav Maharaj, but Jaiswal became the sixth Indian to hit a hundred in all three international formats of the game.
Virat Kohli, now exclusively active in the ODI format like Rohit, walked out to thunderous applause and produced a typically fluent 65 not out, which followed his hundreds in Ranchi and Raipur.
“Playing the way I have done in the series is the most satisfying thing for me,” said player of the series Kohli.
“I feel really free in my mind. I haven’t played like that in two or three years.”
