India vs South Africa 2015, 1st ODI: Player Ratings

Rohit Sharma’s century goes in vain

Rohit Sharma's brilliant century once again couldn’t push India over the finishing line, as the hosts narrowly lost the first ODI against South Africa by 5 runs at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. Seamer Kagiso Rabada held his nerve in the final over and bowled brilliantly, claiming 2 wickets of consecutive deliveries, to guide the visitors to a famous win.

South Africa clinched key moments in the game, which eventually helped them to cross over the finishing line. During their batting innings, the Proteas back fought well in the last 10 overs, to post a score in excess of 300, courtesy a classy knock from their star batsman AB de Villiers. They now lead the 5-match ODI series 1-0.

India were cruising at one stage 269-3, before Rohit’s dismissal turned the game around. Despite MS Dhoni staying till the end, India could not finish the game.

Here’s a look at player ratings from the game:

India

Rohit Sharma - 9/10

Rohit Sharma again displayed brilliance and class in his batting, scoring 150 off just 133 balls, but fell at a crucial juncture in the game, which eventually reversed fortunes for India. He was the best player for India and his knock deserves much appreciation.

Shikhar Dhawan - 6.5/10

Shikhar Dhawan, along with Rohit Sharma started well as usual, but just went it looked like the duo were building a partnership, Dhawan was trapped leg before by Morne Morkel.

Ajinkya Rahane - 8/10

Ajinkya Rahane was promoted to the number 3 position ahead of Virat Kohli, and played a composed knock, scoring 60. The positive thing for India apart from Shama’s knock was the 149-run partnership involving Rahane and Sharma, guided India on the right course.

Virat Kohli - 4.5/10

Vice captain Virat Kohli couldn’t do much with the bat in this match, and was dismissed early on in his innings. Kohli, at one stage, even completed Ashwin’s over when the latter was injured. His fielding, though, was exceptional as ever.

MS Dhoni - 5/10

MS Dhoni walked into the middle when India were in a precarious situation. Initially, he played with caution and remained at the crease but when it mattered the most, he wasn’t able to push India over the finishing line. He could just manage 31 runs in the match.

Suresh Raina - 3.5/10

Suresh Raina is known to be a dangerous batsman in the middle, but it wasn’t his day today. He couldn’t contribute with the bat and was very quickly dismissed by Imran Tahir. Raina tried his hand at bowling today and did a decent job.

Stuart Binny - 3/10

During South Africa’s innings, when Binny was asked to bowl, he started off well, giving away just 1 run in his first over. But the Proteas batsmen started reading his length well and he was hammered. Binny finished with an economy of almost 8. While batting, he couldn’t finish the game towards the end and was dismissed in the last over of the game.

Ravichandran Ashwin - 7.5/10

Ashwin looked to be in good touch when he started bowling and even dismissed Quinton de Kock when he was looking to build momentum. But an unfortunate injury made him to go off the field midway during his spell.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar - 5/10

Bhuvneshwar Kumar worked hard to pick up wickets, but he ended up wicketless. The usually economical bowler went for runs towards the end and finished with an economy of over 6. He even had to face the last over during batting, but couldn’t do any good.

Amit Mishra - 8/10

By far India’s best bowler in the match, Mishra justified his selection in the team and got good spin on the ball, even picking up 2 crucial wickets in the middle. As always he was miserly in his spell, giving away just around 4.5 runs per over.

Umesh Yadav - 6.5/10

In the beginning of the South African innings, Yadav looked effective with his line and length. He dismissed a well-set Faf du Plessis to a very sharp delivery and later the dangerous JP Duminy. But death-bowling again seemed to get the better of him, as he was taken for runs towards the end by AB de Villiers and Farhaan Behardien.

Tahir picked up the crucial Sharma wicket which changed the course of the match

South Africa

Quinton de Kock - 7/10

De Kock along with Hashim Amla got the team off to a good start. The wicket-keeper was dropped from the T20 squad, but he showed glimpses of his brilliance on top of the order with his timely knock. He looked promising in the middle scoring a host of boundaries before a brilliant delivery from Ashwin saw the end of his cameo knock.

Hashim Amla - 7.5/10

Amla is considered to be one of the top batsmen in ODI cricket, and he showed exactly why with his composed innings of 37 on the top. His brief innings included some wonderful shots before he was bamboozled by a Mishra delivery.

Faf du Plessis - 8/10

The T20 captain stitched a 59-run partnership along with Hashim Amla on top and laid a solid foundation with his mature knock of 62. He looked in good touch throughout the match after promoting himself ahead of ODI captain AB de Villiers.

AB de Villiers - 9.5/10

AB de Villiers showed why he is considered as the best batsman in the world, with his outstanding century, which came off just 73 deliveries. The fact that De Villiers took just 19 balls to reach from 50 to 100, reminded why he is the best finisher in the game.

David Miller - 5/10

Miller came in the middle ahead of the in-form batsman JP Duminy and looked set for a big knock. Interestingly the usually powerful Miller did not hit a single boundary in his brief knock of 13. Miller couldn’t contribute much in the field either.

JP Duminy - 5.5/10

The man of the series in the T20 series, Duminy wasn’t really effective in the match today. He initially hit a six and looked set for a big score yet again, but did not last too long in the middle, scoring just 15 runs.

Farhaan Behardien - 8/10

Behardien along with De Villiers effected for 101 runs in the last 10 overs, which powered South Africa to a score over 300. His cameo knock of 35 off just 19 balls included some good shots. With his knock, he yet again proved his worth as a good finisher in the end overs.

Dale Steyn - 6.5/10

The usually powerful bowler, Steyn was expected to come out all guns blazing in the ODI format. But his bowling was nothing above average and even though he bowled good length on a flat wicket, he did go for a few runs and picked up a solitary wicket.

Kagiso Rabada - 8.5/10

The youngster held his nerve and bowled a tight final over to guide South Africa to a narrow win. Despite facing the likes of Dhoni and Binny on the other end, Rabada was calm and managed to bowl a brilliant final over. He was the bowling star for South Africa in the match.

Imran Tahir - 8/10

South Africa’s star spinner Tahir did get good spin on the ball and even claimed the crucial wicket of Rohit Sharma, just when it looked like India were walking away with the match. His dismissal of Rohit Sharma turned out to be the turning point in the match.

Morne Morkel - 6.5/10

Morkel had a quite match, picking up just one wicket, that of Dhawan. He did not get a chance to bat and couldn’t contribute much apart from his bowling.