Quinton de Kock played an innings of incredible maturity to set the Castle Lager Proteas up for a potentially match-winning total in the final Momentum One-Day International against India at SuperSport Park on Wednesday.

In the end the match finished in a disappointing no result after India were not able to start their innings in reply to the Proteas’ total of 301/8.

But the day belonged to De Kock who became the fifth player to score three consecutive ODI centuries and put him in the company of four legends of the game – Zaheer Abbas and Saeed Anwar of Pakistan – and his own countrymen – Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers – and also set the record for the most runs scored in a three-match ODI series. He finished with 342 runs at an average of 114 with a strike rate of 95.26.

Persistent rains at Centurion led to the abandonment of the 3rd and the final One-day International being played between India and South Africa at the Supersport Park, here on Wednesday. The series, however, went to South Africa as they had comprehensively beaten India in the first two games played at Johannesburg and Durban. But before rain arrived to play spoilsport, South African wonder boy, Quinton de Kock had posted his third consecutive century, taking his side to 301, which in all likelihood would have been a winning total.

South Africa had won the toss and decided to bat first on a wicket that was likely to stay true for the entire game. And like talked about earlier, the Proteas rested several of their key players for this encounter, while India just made one change by getting Yuvraj Singh back, in place of Ajinkya Rahane.

The England selectors today announced a 16-man squad to face Australia in the five match ODI series commencing Sunday 12 January in Melbourne and a 15-man squad for the three match T20 series that follows.

Six members of the ODI squad are not involved in the current Test series and they will begin their preparation for the first ODI on 5th January in Melbourne ahead of the remainder of the squad arriving on 8th January. Of those Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler and Chris Jordan have been based in Brisbane and Perth on the England Performance Programme throughout November and December. Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan will be all be playing in the domestic T20 competition in Australia in the build up to the series.

South Africa routed India by huge margins at Johannesburg and Durban, and they now travel to Centurion with new found confidence. Much needed confidence that was lacking in them, before this assignment happened. India’s much famed batting line up, on the other hand, has been caught napping – humbled to the very end. The dead rubber on Wednesday isn’t quite dead, as South Africa now have the chance of clean-sweeping this series and getting back at all the off-field bullying that they faced by the cash rich BCCI, before the series started. And the Indian players have an opportunity to get their act together and hope that they manage to salvage some pride out of the final one-dayer.