Jan. 23: He attempted the unthinkable — to save his side from falling off a rapidly-crumbling cliff face. But in the end, the disintegration was far too quick and his rope far too thin. Coming in at No.7 with India all but dead and buried at 60/5 in 12 overs chasing 268 to win the fifth and final one-dayer of the ODI series, Yusuf Pathan hit a brutal 70-ball 105 with eight fours and as many sixes to get the side within sight of the target. But with 49 more runs to go off 64 balls and just one more tailender in the wings, he skied the ball straight into the hands of Faf du Plessis at covers to quash all hopes.

The side eventually ended 33 runs short of the target to hand South Africa a 3-2 series win at the SuperSport Park here on Sunday. Yusuf’s ton was his second of his career, having added 100 runs with Zaheer Khan in what looked like a match-winning ninth-wicket stand.

Yusuf mixed power and poise and in one incredible over, took pacer Lonwabo Tsotsobe for 21 runs that included two sixes and two fours. But the Indian top order had wrecked the side’s chances so early and so decisively that the possibility of a win was very remote.

Overall, India ended the tour at the SuperSport Park as they had begun here six weeks ago: searching for answers against South Africa’s pacers, and not finding any.

Much like it had in the rest of the ODI series, batting blunders proved fatal for the visitors in the end. The match was reduced to 46 overs a side after an 80-minute rain break. Yusuf’s knock also completely overshadowed Hashim Amla’s calm 116 not out (132 balls, 9x4) that had carried the Proteas to 250/9 in 46 overs.

The Indian top-order stepped on the gas before they could even gauge the pitch. Save for Parthiv Patel’s dismissal that came off a superb diving catch by du Plessis, others lost their wickets to nothing shots. India were a tired lot out in the middle, and it showed both while bowling and batting.

Earlier, it looked like the South African lower-order had squandered an incredible opportunity to bat India out of the decider, losing six wickets for 19 runs in the last four overs.

Amla put on a 97-run stand for the second wicket with Morne van Wyk (56, 63 balls), before combining with an in-form J.P. Duminy for the fourth wicket to add 102 more runs to give the Proteas an ideal launchpad for one final push.
With eight overs to go and a 300-run total very much possible, the heavens opened up, holding up the carnage. When Amla and Duminy rejoined after a break an hour and 20 minutes later, they had lost the momentum. From one end, Amla saw his side slip from 231/3 in 42 overs to 250/9 in 46.

Before the rain break, South Africa had been in complete control. Amla had got to the seventh century of his career — all of them in the last 11 months. He had squandered a few starts in the series previously, but held onto his wicket on Sunday, batting with a lot more poise.

He was content to play second fiddle to the aggressive van Wyk. There were only four boundaries as Amla reached fifty off 72 balls, but he added another five fours as he needed just 41 more deliveries to reach the first century of either side in the series.

SCOREBOARD
South Africa
G.Smith c Pathan b Zaheer 7, H.Amla n.o. 116, M.van Wyk c and b Yuvraj Singh 56, A.de Villiers st Dhoni b Yuvraj Singh 11, J.Duminy c and b Munaf 35, F.du Plessis b Munaf 8, J.Botha c Dhoni b Munaf 2, R.Peterson b Zaheer 4, D.Steyn run out 0, M.Morkel run out 0, L.Tsotsobe n.o. 0.
Extras (lb-6, w-5) 11
Total (9 wkts, 46 overs) 250
FoW: 1-16, 2-113, 3-129, 4-231, 5-242, 6-244, 7-250, 8-250, 9-250

Bowling: Zaheer 9-1-47-2, Munaf 8-0-50-3, Chawla 7-0-32-0, Harbhajan Singh 8-0-33-0, Pathan 2-0-10-0, Yuvraj Singh 8-0-45-2, Sharma 2-0-14-0, Raina 2-0-13-0
India
P. Patel c Du Plessis b Morkel 38, R. Sharma b Tsotsobe 5, V. Kohli c De Villiers b Morkel 2, M. Dhoni c Smith b Morkel 5, Yuvraj Singh c Duminy b Steyn 8, S. Raina c Morkel b Steyn 11, Y. Pathan c Du Plessis b Morkel 105, Harbhajan Singh c Duminy b Botha 13, P. Chawla b Peterson 8, Z. Khan c Morkel b Tsotsobe 24, M. Patel n.o. 4.
Extras (lb-2, nb-2, w-7) 11
Total (all out, 40.2 overs) 234
FoW: 1-21, 2-31, 3-45, 4-60, 5-60, 6-74, 7-98, 8-119, 9-219.

Bowling: Steyn 9-1-32-2, Tsotsobe 7.2-0-57-2, Morkel 8-0-52-4, Botha 8-0-33-1, Peterson 7-0-45-1, Du Plessis 1-0-13-0.