Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], December 4 (ANI): Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan has expressed his thoughts after the KL Rahul-led India suffered a four-wicket defeat against South Africa in Raipur on Wednesday.

Pathan said that India's batting in the last few overs cost the game. At one stage, Team India were 284/4 in 40 overs, and the stage was set to put a strong total on the board. However, South African bowlers bowled tight lines and conceded 74 runs in the last 10 overs as India reached 358/5 in 50 overs.

'Last few overs while batting cost India the game,' the former Indian all-rounder wrote on X.

https://x.com/IrfanPathan/status/1996261569827914048

India was put to bat first at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur by the Proteas, who had the hosts down at 62/2 after dismissals of Rohit Sharma (14) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (22). Virat (102 in 93 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Ruturaj (105 in 83 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes) put on a 195-run stand for the third wicket, putting India in command.

Later, KL Rahul (66* in 43 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Ravindra Jadeja (24* in 27 balls, with two fours) finished off in style with a quickfire 69-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Marco Jansen (2/63) was the top bowler for the Proteas.

Proteas started off the chase with a flurry of boundaries, but they lost Quinton de Kock early. After that, skipper

Temba Bavuma (46 in 48 balls, with three fours and a six) and Markram had a 101-run stand. Markram struck his fourth ODI ton and first as an opener, scoring 110 in 98 balls, with 10 fours and four sixes.

Another partnership of 92 runs between Matthew Breetzke (68 in 64 balls, with five fours) and Dewald Brevis (54 in 34 balls, with a four and five sixes) changed the game in favour of the Proteas.

In the end, despite Nandre Burger and Tony de Zorzi's injuries making things easier for India, Keshav Maharaj (10*) and Corbin Bosch (25*) took SA to a memorable win with four wickets and four balls in hand.

Arshdeep Singh (2/54) was the top bowler for India, while Harshit Rana's (1/70) figures changed for the worse after one poor over. Prasidh Krishna's poor show, conceding 82 in 8.2 overs, was a massive point of difference in SA's win.

An exciting decider awaits on Saturday. (ANI)