South Africa vs India 2018, 3rd ODI: Things which went right for the visitors

India produced yet another clinical performance as they defeated South Africa by 124 runs in the 3rd ODI to take an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the 6-match series at Cape Town on Wednesday.

Riding on Virat Kohli's 160*, the visitors posted a target of 304 and the Indian wrist spinners proved to be too good for the hosts as they crashed at 179 in 40 overs.

The 4th ODI will be played on Saturday, February 10 at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.

Now, let us have a look at what were the factors that led to India's comprehensive win.

#5 Performance of spinners

The performance in the 3rd ODI was South Africa's best so far in the series but the hosts were once again undone by the Indian spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

Chahal and Yadav continued to weave their magic as they shared eight wickets between them to dismiss South Africa for 179 in 40 overs.

Aiden Markram and JP Duminy tried to architect a fightback but the Indian wrist spinners had different plans as they ran through South Africa's batting order once again.

Chahal, who claimed his maiden ODI five-wicket haul at Centurion on Sunday, took 4 wickets in 9 overs giving away 46 runs.

Yadav, however, was the pick of Indian bowlers as he claimed 4 wickets in 9 overs and gave away just 23 runs at an economy of 2.55, recording his career-best ODI figures.

For the third match in a row, the Indian pacers were not as effective as the spinners as Jasprit Bumrah claimed two wickets, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar remained wicketless.

#4 Virat Kohli's captaincy

While South Africa have been floundering in the absence of their regular skipper Faf du Plessis, India have flourished so far in the ODI series under the leadership of Virat Kohli.

The 29-year-old, who possesses excellent mental strength, orchestrated a turn-around for his team after they were beaten 2-1 in the three-match Test series.

After being put in to bat on Wednesday, Kohli brought up a 140-run partnership with Shikhar Dhawan and led India to 303/6 in 50 overs.

While defending, he deployed his bowlers at the right times and continued to pile on the pressure on the South African batsmen, eventually dismissing them for 179 in 40 overs.

Kohli has led by an example and with a series tally of 318 runs so far, has been India's most successful batsman.

#3 Absence of South Africa's stalwarts

South Africa were dealt a blow after their star batsman AB de Villiers was ruled out of the first three ODIs of the six-match series against India due to a finger injury.

The 33-year-old, who is still the nucleus of South Africa's batting order, was sorely missed by the hosts in the first ODI, where none of their batsmen except skipper Faf du Plessis (120) managed to show any resistance against India's menacing wrist-spinners.

Just ahead of the second ODI, Du Plessis was also ruled out of the series due to an injury and 23-year-old Aiden Markram was made the stand-in skipper for the hosts.

But, Markram's international leadership debut on his home ground quickly turned into a nightmare as South Africa suffered a massive batting collapse and were bowled out for 118 in 32.2 overs.

Then, before the start of the 3rd ODI, Quinton de Kock joined the stalwarts on the sidelines as South Africa included uncapped wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen in their playing XI.

De Kock sustained the injury during the 2nd ODI at SuperSport Park on Sunday and will require 2-4 weeks to make a recovery.

#2 Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan partnership

South Africa's stand-in skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bowl first as Kagiso Rabada removed Rohit Sharma for nought to extended his barren run in South Africa.

From there on, Shikhar Dhawan (76) and Virat Kohli (160*) stitched a 140-run partnership for the second wicket to lay a solid foundation for a huge target.

The duo saw off a hostile opening spell from Kagiso Rabada and led India to a position of strength.

Other than Kohli and Dhawan, no other Indian batsmen were able to make an impact as the visitors' middle-order suffered a mini-stutter.

Throughout the series, Kohli has been involved in some crucial partnerships that have led to India's domination.

In the 1st ODI, Ajinkya Rahane and Kohli brought up a stand of 189 runs, second highest by an Indian pair in South Africa against South Africa in ODIs, to orchestrate the visitors' fightback.

Chasing a modest total of 118 in the second ODI, Dhawan (51*) and Kohli (46*) went on to stitch an unbeaten partnership worth 93 runs to take the visitors to the finish line.

#1 Virat Kohli's rich run of form continues

Team India skipper Virat Kohli racked up yet another brilliant ton and brought up his 34th ODI ton and took his series tally to 318, the most runs for a visiting batsman in a bilateral ODI series against South Africa at their home.

Kohli scored an unbeaten 160 off 159 balls, his second-highest ODI score after 183 against Pakistan in 2012.

The 29-year-old also went past Sourav Ganguly's 127 at Johannesburg in 2001, to get the highest individual score by an Indian batsman against South Africa in their backyard.

Kohli's 160* is also the highest score by an Indian batsman in South Africa as he overtook Sachin Tendulkar’s 152 against Namibia in 2003.

Moreover, he also became the Indian ODI captain with most hundreds to his name as he overtook Ganguly's record of 11 centuries in 142 innings. Kohli now has 12 hundreds as skipper but in only 43 innings.

For his match-winning knock, Kohli was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Stepping out on the field and scoring centuries has become a regularity for @imVkohli. Congratulations on your 34th ODI ton! Keep the runs flowing always. #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/4eyuMUpl12

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) February 7, 2018

He’s on a different level this bloke wow. What a player 🙏🙏👍👍🏏🏏@imVkohli https://t.co/SoDyRQajQi

— David Warner (@davidwarner31) February 7, 2018