Sanju Samson hit a fine century as India defeated South Africa by 78 runs in the third ODI to clinch the three-match series 2-1 here on Thursday. Sent into bat, India lost both the openers early before Samson (108 off 114 balls), which was his maiden ODI hundred, and Tilak Varma (52 off 77 balls) made useful contributions to take 296 for eight. Rinku Singh (38 off 27) also chipped in for the visitors. Beuran Hendricks (3/63) was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa, while Nandre Burger (2/64) also accounted for two wickets. Chasing 297, opener Tony de Zorzi made 81 off 87 balls but none of the other Proteas batter could support him as the hosts were bowled for 218 in 45.5 overs. For India, Arshdeep Singh (4/30), Washington Sundar (2/38) and Avesh Khan (2/45) were the main wicket takers.