India vs South Africa, 5th ODI at Mumbai, , Oct 25 2015 - Match Result

9.00 pm Presentation time. Where's your money on for the Man of the Series? AB or Rabada? Sachin Tendulkar is among the guests standing on the dais, and receives a huge roar again. Zak is also here, looking quite snazzy: Last 10 days have been very nostalgic. It's all coming back to me, where it all started. It was here, as a spare bowler, incidentally it was against South Africa in the Titan Cup. I feel proud. Come a long way. Just happy to play, things just happened for me. If even one link had been missing, I would not be here. So I am just glad and thankful and grateful for everyone here.

"Thank you very much for all the respected members on the dais. Its been very special for me to get felicitated in front of such a gathering. To MS, I know it was a tough day today. But keep working hard. I'm sure you are going to achieve quite a lot in the coming time. To AB and the team, you've always been tough opponents. Really enjoyed the challenge, you always bring out the best in me. Congratulations on the series win"

"its been amazing. Its been 10 days since the announcement of my retirement. Its been an amazing 10 days. Been really proud. The way everyone has shown their love and support, I can't thank you enough. To the special Mumba crowd, it all started here 10-15-20 years back. Just happy that my final speech is happening at Wankhede. Hopefully I continue to be associated with the game in some capacity or other. Just want to thank you all, to all the millions of follows of Team Indiaand the game. Keep supporting them, they need you.

"Just want to thank my Mom and Dad, for letting me chase my dream. I know it is that emotional for me. Thank you Sachin as well for sparing time and coming here. To all my colleagues, its been an amazing journey .I am going to miss all the celebrations when I walk away. Everyone has to move on. I am happy to walk away with so many happy memories and so many friendships to keep. Thank you so much"

MCA present a shield to Zak, which Sachin hands over. The BCCI also have a memento to give away.

Quinton de Kock is Man of the Match for his rapid hundred at the top of the innings and some great catches too. "Yeah, I dunno what to say actually. I guess they just make good wickets here. Just had a good series. Dunno what happened. Just happy about it. Growing up I've always tried to get better at keeping. Never been the best keeper around, so just worked hard at it. [Words to Faf and AB, the other two centurions] Recover well, and lets enjoy it later"

AB de Villiers is the Man of the Series with 358 runs in five matches including three centuries. "Obviously a very enjoyabvle performance today. We assessed the conditions nicely and the opening batters set it up for us to enjoy the innings. I thought Faf took control of the innings very nicely. KG is an amazing bowler, very young still, lots to learn and the potential in him is high"

"Once they had good partnership on top and once they looked ot accelerate, I thought it was impossible to stop them. Even if we had done exceedingly well, over 350 was on the cards, "says MS Dhoni, "All three innings were very good, you want to have a good start so Quinton's innings was very good. Faf came in at No. 3 and took over and AB as well. They got away in the first 25 overs and then it was difficult to stop. They only got one wicket in their favour. Specially this wicket, it was very true for the seamers. And we all know in Wankhede, there was a lot of runs. It would be unfair to say the spinners bowled badly. I think there were occasions where we should have done better. We were up and down, but still we were good. We put runs on the board and bowling also, we bowled well. This one game, it was completely taken away from us"

"Its the Mumbai heat, it was incredibly warm. I am not as strong as MS and those guys to hit sixes. So I had t orun a lot of twos. Unfortunately I could not take the field today. Would have been nice," says Faf du Plessis, "Suppose it is hard not to laugh at someone when they go through that [falling on his backside after hitting fours because of cramps]. I told to AB I was done, but AB told me to just keep going. The new guy would find it difficult. It was great to put up such a big score in the decider. Quinny was amazing, his strike rate was fantastic. Same with AB. My role was to just anchor the innings"

So that's how it panned out. A good pitch, short boundaries and a South African batting line-up that just would not leg up. Second time in ODI history - both by this team - to record three centuries in an innings. Quinton de Kock was excellent at the top. Faf du Plessis was resilient throughout, and brave when it came to the end as he was cramping up and still kept going. Then AB de Villiers knocked India out.

Following that South Africa's bowlers - Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott and their sheer pace - ensured India could not take advantage of a fine batting track. A first bilateral one-day series win for SA and only Ajinkya Rahane stood against them for a little while with his half-century. The margin of victory - 214 runs - is India's worst at home and second-worst in history. A good team has shown its class, and has won fans everywhere they have gone in this series. Every ground welcomed AB de Villiers as if he were their own local boy. Meanwhile, another good team is wondering where it all went wrong. They have had a couple of players out of form. Their bowling lacks the X-factor on flat wickets. And their lower order remains a problem.

But keep in mind, India lost their main bowler early in the series and that must have also played a part. Having said that, South Africa lost JP Duminy and Morne Morkel to injuries as well. Just the depth in the squads showing.

Ali: "Cricinfo! you are confusing me... a wide ball was bowled after the 10th wicket?" ---- we apologise for that. Mild technical difficulties, which as you might notice now were sorted.

This could be one India's biggest ODI defeats.