Who said what: World reacts to India's loss at Rajkot

Morne Morkel’s four-wicket haul earned him the Man of the Match award

South Africa defeated India by 18 runs in the 3rd ODI at Rajkot on Sunday to take a 2-1 lead in the 5-match ODI series. Quinton de Kock, who scored his fourth ODI century, and Morne Morkel, who picked up four wickets, including the prized wickets of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni were the architects of South Africa’s victory as India faltered in their run chase.

AB de Villiers won the crucial toss for the visitors and had no hesitation in batting first. De Kock was well supported by Faf du Plessis who notched up his third half-century on the trot but a good fightback by the Indian bowlers, led by the spin duo of Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra, restricted the visitors to 270/7 when a score well in excess of 300 looked very gettable.

The momentum was clearly with India and the hosts must have fancied their chances with the pitch still favouring the batsmen, But South Africa ensured with their disciplined bowling that there were no easy runs on offer and the pressure told as the run-rate started rising up in spite of having wickets in hand.

Shikhar Dhawan continued his struggle, but Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s 72-run partnership raised the hopes of an Indian victory. The Proteas’ bowlers, however, continued to keep the scoring in check following Sharma’s dismissal and the dismissals of Dhoni, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane by Morkel in quick succession all but ensured victory for the visitors.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Indian skipper Dhoni said that his side were still struggling to find the right combination.

"We are looking for batsmen to play at No 5, 6 and 7. Till they play there, we won't know who is a good bet over there. And we are looking to give chances as well so it's a tricky one," he said.

Dhoni also felt that toss had a crucial role to play in the loss and conceded that India were struggling to find the right batting combination.

“The wicket kept getting slower and slower and there was no dew to help the batsmen. We have to look at batting combinations. There is extra pressure on the Top 6. Losing the toss was a big disadvantage. South Africa batted when the pitch was good for batting,” Dhoni said.

South African skipper De Villiers showered praise on Man of the Match Morkel and De Kock and hailed them as the match-winners.

“It was a very special batting performance. Quinton answered a lot of questions just like what Quinton can do. We struggled between the 37th and 44th over but found our way at the end. To have Miller up front was 'Out of the Box' thinking from us. We were looking at 250 as a par, the way we fought back with the ball was special. Incredible performance from the bowlers. Morne Morkel was outstanding,” he said.

Man of the Match Morkel singled-out the wickets of Dhoni and Kohli as key for South Africa’s victory.

“MS Dhoni is a fantastic finisher. We had some plans and it worked,” an elated Morkel said. "I suppose you live by the sword, you die with the sword, he (Kohli) is a big hitter down the ground and had to vary it.”

"Really worked hard this week on mixing it up a bit. I'm a rhythm bowler and need things to click to operate. We had a couple of game plans and it is important to execute and we did that," said Morkel. “Every time I do well, especially against India is very special. And it will last with me forever.”

The cricket fraternity took to Twitter to make known their thoughts on the match.

Aakash Chopra:

South Africans bowled exceptionally well in the last ten overs..but India lost the game before that. SA have won d most imp game of d series

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 18, 2015

Harsha Bhogle:

2 boundaries between overs 31 and 45. Asking rate skyrocketed there

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 18, 2015

Well played South Africa. Top bowling by Morkel and the ever improving Rabada.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 18, 2015

Sambit Bal:

The bowling from SA was as good as you would see in these conditions. This was not a match lost by bad batting, but won by better bowling

— Sambit Bal (@sambitbal) October 18, 2015

Bollywood star Ayushman Khurrana:

& while I was watching myself on Big Boss and Look Who's Talking simultaneously, India lost the match. Should've put the country first. Damn

— Ayushmann Khurrana (@ayushmannk) October 18, 2015