IND vs SA: South Africa begins WTC25 campaign with an emphatic win over India: South Africa finished the game inside three days to clinch their first point in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25.
South Africa continued their dominance with bat and ball in their fort in Centurion with a stunning win by an innings and 32 runs against India on the third day.
After the win, the Proteas are now leading the World Test Championship and are on top with a 100% win percentage.
After taking a lead of 145 runs, South Africa did not have to come out to bat again as the bowlers wreaked havoc on a pitch that had plenty to offer for a versatile pace attack.
IND vs SA Test played:
Day 1: KL Rahul saves India
The South African fast bowlers justified their captain Temba Bavuma’s decision to bat first and bowled out the top three Indian batsmen within the first hour of play. The only concern for South Africa in the early stages was a fielding injury to their captain which kept him out of the rest of the match.
After early wickets, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer steadied the ship with a 68-run partnership. However, once South Africa broke the stand, more wickets fell and India soon found themselves at 121/6 with both Kohli and Iyer back out.
It was KL Rahul, who brought back fond memories of the Centurion with a century the last time India toured, who saved the visitors from slipping further. With Shardul Thakur, he added 43 runs for the seventh wicket and took India to 208/8 at stumps in 59 overs due to rain interruption.
While all the Proteas fast bowlers proved to be potent, Kagiso Rabada was in a class of his own as he recorded the 14th five-wicket haul of his career with figures of 5/44 on the first day.
Day 2: Elgar wrote the perfect ending to Swansong
Rahul took India past 200 runs and eventually completed his second century on the field by hitting a six. That was the last wicket to fall as India collapsed to 245 runs at the start of the second day.
The Indian fast bowlers had the ball, even losing the wicket of Aiden Markram early on, but Dean Elgar and Tony De Zorzi overcame the hurdle and added 93 runs for the second wicket.
Jasprit Bumrah struck twice in two overs but despite early wickets, Elgar, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket, was not only solid but also blasted boundaries route to a brilliant century. David Bedingham also joined the party after scoring a half-century on debut.
Shardul Thakur and debutant Prasidh Krishna were guilty of mistakes in their line and length and were punished through the South African pair. India ended the day with some momentum with two late strikes, but South Africa already had a slim lead of 11 runs and still had five wickets in hand.
Day 3: South Africa Steamroller India
India were hoping to carry the momentum of the previous day’s two wickets into the third day, but Elgar and Marco Johnson dashed those hopes with a 111-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
The wicket of Elgar, who fell just 15 runs short of a double century, was India’s only respite before lunch. The rest of the batsmen were soon dismissed, leaving Jansen stranded at the other end on 84.
With a huge lead of 163 runs, the visiting team needed a special effort to stay in the game. But the South African fast bowlers proved too difficult to handle as India lost their opening batsmen in the first six overs.
Shubman Gill, one of the two batsmen to score double figures in the innings, looked good while at the crease but was clean bowled by Jensen before tea. Wickets kept falling even after the break and Virat Kohli struggled alone to reach his half-century.
India were all out for 131, of which Kohli scored 76 and was the last wicket to fall. The action moves to Cape Town for the final Test of the series starting on January 3 in the New Year.
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