Quick guide:
India vs South Africa – A statistical review
South Africa not only when the Test series but also managed to win the ODI series by a margin of 3-0. India couldn’t win a single game in the ODI series as South Africa whitewashed India in the three-match ODI series. The South African team led by Temba Bavuma were absolutely brilliant as they won the first two games by good margins and then pipped India in a close encounter in the third game. So, let us have a look at what happened in the series through the spectrum of numbers.
Powerplay
If you look at the powerplay numbers, India was slightly ahead of South Africa in the first ten overs. India had a better average and a better strike-rate in the powerplay. India lost one wicket less in the powerplay in the whole series as compared to South Africa. India’s opening combination will become more solid once Rohit Sharma comes back and even though India might have lost the series, the powerplay scores are a big positive for team India.
Middle-Overs
This is the phase where both the Indian batsmen and the Indian bowlers lacked drastically. The Indian batsmen managed to score only at an average of 29.25 which is a direct sign of losing too many wickets in the middle-overs. Due to the loss of wickets, India couldn’t keep up with the run-rate and as a result the strike-rate is on the slightly lower side.
On the other hand, the South African batsmen lost only 8 wickets in the middle-overs which meant they averaged 65.62 in overs 11-40. The Indian bowlers couldn’t manage to pick up enough wickets in the middle-overs which meant that the South African batsmen could score freely at a strike-rate of almost 100. This middle-overs phase turned out to be the main difference in both the teams during the ODI series.
Death Overs
In the death overs phase, there isn’t much difference between the two teams. Both the teams average around 32-33 and have a strike-rate above 110. Both the teams could have managed to score a bit quicker in the final ten overs and they would look to work on this phase before the 2023 World Cup.
Apart from these three phases, there was a major difference between the two teams and that was the batsmen who were set were making it big for South Africa, which didn’t happen for India. Three South African batsmen hit centuries out of which two of them were a 120+ score whereas none of the Indian batsmen could get the three figures in three-match series.
The Indian batsmen had eight half-centuries to their name but no centuries. The likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli compiled good half-centuries but could have made it big and take India home. This is also a direct sign of Indian bowlers not being able to pick up wickets in the middle-overs. If the Indian bowlers had managed to pick up wickets through the middle-phase, the South African batsmen wouldn’t have managed to score big.
One big positive for India in this ODI series would be the batting ability shown by Shardul Thakur and then Deepak Chahar in the last ODI. Both the pacers scored crucial runs and contributed with the bat when necessary.
The Indian team can look at this and probably give them more responsibility with the bat. India wouldn’t be too happy with the result but knowing this Indian team, they will look to learn from their mistakes and make a strong comeback in the ODI series against West Indies.
~Shubham Kulkarni (Stats analyst)
Follow us on socials: Twitter: @beyondmatches || Facebook: Beyond the Matches || Instagram: @beyondthematches