Best Pictures from India South Africa 3rd ODI: Exhausted South Africans, Kohli's gestures and Dhoni's flying bat

Morne Morkel’s 4-wicket haul helped South Africa defeat India by 18 runs in the 3rd ODI at Rajkot on Sunday thus giving the visitors a 2-1 lead in the 5-match series.A late fightback by the Indian bowlers nullified the foundation laid by Quinton de Kock’s century, but chasing the target of 271 set by the Proteas, India fell short despite fighting half-centuries by Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.Here are the best frames captured through the course of the match, which sees South Africa go 2-1 up in the 5-match series:

#1 Lord\'s shifts to Rajkot!

The Rajkot stadium’s media centre looking very alike the media centre at the iconic Lord’s cricket ground raised some eyebrows prior to the match.

The big news before the match commenced was of political agitator Hardik Patel being apprehended by police outside the stadium, thus proving that India will not tolerate disruption of cricket at any cost.

#2 Harbhajan gets the breakthrough

South Africa got off to a blistering start, but were pegged back by some disciplined bowling from Harbhajan Singh. He made the boundaries dry up, and got David Miller to make a mistake.

#3 De Kock continues his Indian summer

Quinton de Kock scored his 7^th ODI ton to lead South Africa to sizeable total, his 4th against India. In fact, His record against India is in stark contrast to his record against other teams.

He averages over 80 against India in ODIs, but does not manage to reach even 40 against other teams.

#4 Heat gets to South Africans

Quinton de Kock played a long innings out in the middle under the Rajkot sun, but as a result was too exhausted to come out to keep wickets in the second innings – a fact MS Dhoni fans should keep in mind when expecting him to hit centuries while batting.

The temperature reached 37 degrees, and De Kock and Du Plessis were seen taking frequent breaks to catch up on their breaths during a long partnership.

AB de Villiers kept wickets in De Kock’s stead for the first half of the India innings, even missing a low catch of Shikhar Dhawan’s bat.

#5 Dhoni hits his bat for a six

As the joke goes around this picture, MS Dhoni has returned his bat to protest rising intolerance against him under the new government.

Dhoni was looking to step on the gas and increase the scoring rate at this point, and the bat slipped from his hands.

Another perspective which shows how far the flying bat travelled in the air:

#6 Dhoni-Kohli get bogged down

MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli looked in control of the situation for the longest time, and perfectly capable of chasing down the target of 271. However, the nature of the pitch meant that hitting shots got harder as the innings progressed.

As a result, Indian team’s most senior players failed to finish off the match, and were eventually made to look foolish – having wasted a lot of balls without coming up with the killer blow.

#7 A Morkel masterclass

Morne Morkel is not considered the best South African fast bowler in Asian conditions without a reason. He again used his height to give a lot of trouble to the Indian batsmen. He dismissed Dhawan early, and came back to account for Dhoni, Kohli and Rahane in his last spell.

Morkel registered matchwinning figures of 4/39.

#8 Kohli\'s gestures

Virat Kohli’s aggression in the field was instrumental in India edging out the 2nd ODI, and he was again at his aggressive best in Rajkot – with his gestures, at least.

He made a gun with his hands, and then a heart sign for a bit of variety. He was, however, made to look a little foolish, when he came up with an arrogant celebration, but had to take it back after Faf du Plessis was given a reprieve for Mohit Sharma having overstepped.