Visakhapatnam: Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was relieved to score his maiden ODI century in helping India to a nine-wicket victory against South Africa in the third and final ODI and a 2-1 series win in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, finally being able to convert the start he got.
Jaiswal hammered an unbeaten 116 off 121 balls, studded with 12 fours and two sixes and with Rohit Sharma (75, 73b, 7×4, 3×6) and Virat Kohli (65*, 45b, 6×4, 3×6) as India raced to 271/1 in 39.5 overs after the bowlers led by Kuldeep Yadav (4-41) and Prasidh Krishna (4-65) had helped the hosts bundle out South Africa for a modest 270.
With this, Jaiswal became the sixth Indian batter to score hundreds in all three formats of the game, and at 23 is the youngest to do so.
Adjudged the Player of the Match for his superb effort, Jaiswal said he gained confidence from the chats he had in the middle with Rohit and Virat.
“I really enjoyed (scoring 100), grateful and blessed. Rohit and I have chatted a lot about how we play and what tempo to go with. I’ve been unable to convert starts. I was only thinking of how to balance the innings. Sometimes I need to be more attacking and sometimes get singles and consolidate. I have to control my thoughts, where and what shots I can play. I need to go after bowlers, knowing when I need to do that helps,” said Jaiswal at the post-match presentation ceremony after India won the series 2-1.
He said batting with Kohli was a different experience as he played a lot of shots. “Once Virat paaji came in, he played a lot of shots. He helped me set targets as well,” said Jaiswal.
Jaiswal had scored 18 off 16 balls in the first ODI and 22 from 38 balls in the second. On Saturday, he controlled his aggression at the start and changed gears only after reaching 50 from 75 balls. His second fifty came from 36 balls. He was under pressure in the third match since dropping a crucial catch in the second ODI.
(IANS)
