South Africa deserved victory as they showed a lot of character: Kohli

New Delhi: India’s rampant march towards an unprecedented series victory came to halt after South Africa clinched victory in the rain-hit fourth ODI at Wanderers in Johannesburg. After losing the nail-biting encounter Indian skipper Virat Kohli hailed the performance of the hosts and admitted that the team deserved the win.

"You have to give credit to South Africa. I think they played with a lot of character in the end, they pulled through, they deserved to win. They are a quality side, we expected them to play quality cricket and they played well. We know we'll have to be at the top of our game to get another win under our belt and we'll work extremely hard for that," Kohli said after last night's weather-hit and curtailed ODI.

India were cruising at 200 for 2 before lightning first stopped play. Although no overs were cut, India lost the momentum and managed 289 for 7 at the end of their designated 50 overs.

Kohli, post match mentioned how conditions worked against his team as India scored just 89 in 16.3 overs after the first break of play.

"After the break when Shikhar and Jinks (Ajinkya Rahane) came off the wicket played a bit differently, it wasn't as good to bat after the break. After the lightning break the guys felt with the weather getting cooler, the wicket got faster in the evening, and that continued through the innings, so I don't think the guys quite settled-in in the later half," said Virat.

Another rain break later, during South Africa's innings, forced the match to be reduced to 28 overs with the hosts set a revised target of 202. The skipper felt that the curtailment of the match helped South Africa.

"The game getting shorter probably worked in their favour, they had to hit regardless of what the situation was. If it was a full game you never know," Virat added.

Coming into the match with a 3-0 lead India were favourites but twin weather break coupled with missed chances halted the visitor’s prolific run as South Africa managed to keep the series alive.

After win in the fourth ODI by five wickets the hosts still trail 1-3 in the six-match ODI series. The fifth encounter is scheduled to take place on 13^th February at St. George’s Park in Port Elizabeth.