In 2006, the South African ODI squad in their pink uniform chased down what was the highest ODI total (between two test playing nations) at the time. Australia went in to bat first and led by Ricky Ponting who scored 164, racked up a grand total of 434 runs. A formidable 1st innings test total let alone ODI total, something teams would be delighted with for a full and a half worth of play. To go at a run rate of 8.68 for 50 overs is more than incredible, something no one expected South Africa to chase down. Led by Herschelle Gibbs who scored 175, South Africa did exactly that and chased down Australia’s mighty total.

On Sunday in Johannesburg, South Africa smashed through their own record against the West Indies to set up a first innings total of 439 runs, only losing two wickets with their top three batsmen all scoring centuries. Hashim Amla scored a career best 153 not out and along with Rilee Rossouw who scored his maiden century they put on a 247-run partnership. Amla and Rossouw’s partnership lasted until the 39th over, they had set a strong base and within the next 10 overs even if South Africa had added another 100 runs they would have been happy with that score.

AB de Villiers however, had other ideas. When given any freedom he is at his most dangerous and this was the perfect opportunity for him to free up and hit. The South African ODI captain faced only 44 balls (roughly seven overs) and ended his innings with a score of 149, four less than Hashim Amla who stayed at the crease for the entire 50 overs. de Villiers beat Sanath Jayasuriya’s record of the fastest ODI fifty and smashed Corey Anderson’s record of scoring a century in 36 balls. de Villiers racked up his century in a mere 31 balls. Of his 44 balls he belted 16 sixes to equal Rohit Sharma’s record number and played out only three dot balls.

There was no stopping de Villiers, no matter what the West Indies put forward, the bad balls were put away but so were the good ones. Jason Holder had no answers, never before had a West Indian bowler gone for 90+ runs in an ODI innings and here de Villiers had forced two above 90. The second wicket partnership lasted 67 balls with the run rate reaching an incredible 17.12 and de Villiers’ strike rate reaching 339, the first time a batsman has made a 100+ score at a 300+ strike rate.

The innings finally came to an end and West Indies were relieved from their beating. It wasn’t over though, West Indies still had to climb mount Everest and they did not have the batting experience or the depth that South Africa did. They were severely missing the experience and explosiveness of Dwayne Bravo and Keiron Pollard who were left out of the series and the World Cup. With a fairly new side, most of the weight was resting on the shoulders of one man, Chris Gayle. If Gayle had gotten going, he could have scored a massive total and kept the run rate within reach for the rest of the team and give them a chance. However he was dismissed very early on and West Indies’ hope of reaching the total diminished drastically. They went on to reach 291 runs and on any other day it would have been a decent total, one that most teams would accept at the start of an innings, but against the pink uniform, they fell 148 runs short.

India drew the final game to the end the series 2-0. A win was always a possibility with Virat Kohli at the crease and wickets in hand, but once again a bad session crushed India’s chances just as it had done through the entire series.

At Lunch on day five of the final test series, India require 276 runs with nine wickets in hand. The morning session got off to a steady start for India, Lokesh Rahul and Murali Vijay made a decent start. Nathan Lyon was the man to break the partnership and this brought Rohit Sharma. The first ball must have sent a chill down the Indian captain’s spine as Sharma missed the ball and was almost stumped by Brad Haddin.

Vijay and Sharma went through a drought as five maidens were bowled by Australia with a beautiful spell from Josh Hazlewood. Sharma was stuck on zero for a while and Australia looked like they were working up to a wicket. However Sharma finally got off the mark and went on to play some beautiful shots of Nathan Lyon’s bowling.

Once again though, India hit another rough patch, with just over 50 overs to go, Vijay was dropped at short cover by Shaun Marsh. You could see the anguish on Steve Smith’s face as the chance to break the partnership was fumbled. Soon after (as he usually does between 20-40 runs) Sharma played a loose shot on 39 and Steve Smith made absolutely no mistake at slip. This brought in India’s best hope. The Captain. Captain Kohli was there again as he was in Adelaide, could he pull India over the line this time? Murali Vijay got another reprieve as a lbw was not given out. India were wobbling and if another wicket had fallen, Australia might have ended the series 3-0.

With Kohli and Vijay at the crease India added another 74 runs to the total and India were looking set to end on a high. That was until the third session began. India needed 189 runs with eight wickets in hand. Vijay was caught behind by Haddin when India were on 178 and from there it began to look like a classic Indian collapse. Five wickets fell for 39 runs, with Suresh Raina getting his second duck of the test.

However this tail would not give up so easily. It was a much stronger tail than the one that faced Australia in Adelaide and they would not give up without a fight, especially with Ajinkya Rahane at the other end to guide them. Rahane and Bhuvneshwar Kumar faced almost 12 overs and played beautifully. None of Smith’s bowlers could break the partnership. Rahane in particular was impressive, he stayed calm and collect and was not drawn into playing an unnecessary shot. As a player who likes to get off to a flyer he showed some new colours, ones that India will be glad to see more of.

Though India did not win the test, they had improved from Adelaide. They began the fourth session positively with a win in mind but they did not allow one bad session to cost them the entire five day match.

MS Dhoni announced his retirement from Test match cricket following the series defeat in Australia. With one match to go it was a very surprising and ‘no muss no fuss’ end to Dhoni’s Test match career, one that suited his style well.

MS Dhoni captained India through a roller coaster of series’. His career began on a massive high with India winning eight of their first 11 Tests under his leadership. Dhoni went on to guide India to the become ICC no.1 ranked Test side, win the Champions Trophy, the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup. He was one of, if not THE most remarkable captain India have ever had.

Over the past six years, Dhoni has played a remarkable 398 international games (including IPL and Champions League). He has played 90 Test matches for India, scored 4876 runs and effected 294 dismissals. MS Dhoni had an incredible career and on top of all his achievements, he was attempting to transition a very young Indian side. During Dhoni’s reign, four of India’s greats retired, making his accomplishments look even more monumental.

When Dhoni retired, he handed over the torch to Virat Kohli. Kohli has been India’s star performer over the past few years, especially in ODIs where he has pulled India over the line on several occasions. During his captaincy of the first Test at Adelaide he scored two centuries and brought India within touching distance of a win. He is a fiery and hot-headed captain, the complete opposite of Dhoni which may be a good thing now there seems to be a slightly more settled side with the likes of Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane performing well.

However it is unfair to call Dhoni a defensive captain when he was trying to build an entirely new team without the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid. Especially when India had no solid pace attack, with Ishant Sharma bowling all over the place and Umesh Yadav plagued by injuries. Only recently has India’s bowling attack looked threatening enough to take 20 wickets abroad (though not including Steve Smith though who has been Australia’s lifeline as current leading run scorer for the series and currently averaging 145.25).

The fourth and final Test of the series will be a real Test for Kohli and Smith, Australia and India have a long history of smashing each other… only in their home series’. The last overseas win was by India in Perth and since then it has been 14-0 from 1 Tests to the home side. Over 10 years ago was the last time either of these teams won a series in the others’ home country. Australia under the leadership of Adam Gilchrist won the series 2-1 in India.

Without Mitchell Johnson playing the Sydney Test, and with their new aggressive captain, India have their best chance of breaking the streak before Australia are given another shot.