South Africa (Commonwealth) _ At the first Test at Pretoria, South Africa tore apart the Indian batting lineup, winning by an innings and thirty-two runs and completing the triumph in three days.
The outcome guaranteed that the Proteas’ outstanding home record against India would stand. After scoring 408 to take a 163-run advantage in the first innings in Centurion, the host team’s bowling assault defeated India for 131 in the tourists’ second innings.
In an unsettling batting collapse, only Virat Kohli (76) offered any fight for India; Nandre Burger (4-33), Marco Jansen (3-36), and Kagiso Rabada (2-32) of the Proteas inflicted most of the damage with the ball.
The Proteas cannot drop the series with two Tests remaining and continue to be the only nation where India has not yet won an away series. Aiden Markram, at second slip, might have taken a wicket off Rabada’s opening delivery in India’s second innings if he hadn’t lost an edge off Yashasvi Jaiswal.
However, Rabada dismissed India captain Rohit Sharma for a duck in his subsequent over, and Jaiswal subsequently gloved a blistering ball from Burger to leave the field for five. Shubman Gill hit 26 runs off of 37 balls, sparking a quick comeback for his struggling club. Jansen bowled him, and India was reduced to 3-62 at tea.
Even though Kohli proved to be a rock, wickets fell at the beginning of the final session, when Jansen (6) dismissed Shreyas Iyer and Burger took two wickets in a row. After making a century in the first innings, KL Rahul was dismissed cheaply for 4 as he edged towards Markram. Ravichandran Ashwin was caught for a golden duck on the following delivery.
Before Jasprit Bumrah was run out without a run, David Bedingham claimed his second catch at gully as Shardul Thakur (2) became Rabada’s seventh wicket of the Test. Following a review by South Africa, Mohammed Siraj was the next to go, and a diving Rabada beautifully caught him in the deep for the final wicket. It was a fitting finale to an entertaining match.
At 256-6 at the start of the day, South Africa held an 11-run advantage thanks to Dean Elgar, who had gone from 140 to 185 before being out 30 minutes before lunch. When India took the second new ball of the day, he and Marco Jansen put on an impressive 111-run partnership for the sixth wicket. The two had begun the day with good intentions. Jansen had his highest Test score of 84 not out.
Nandre Burger, a left-arm fast bowler, finished his thrilling first Test with four wickets taken for 33, giving him match stats of seven wickets for 83. In the slip cordon, three catches were lost, although none of them turned out to be costly.
In his last Test at home, Elgar was chosen man of the match. After the second Test, he plans to declare his retirement from international cricket. He remarked, “It was pretty special for me.”
The pitch had a lot of delicious details. In Test cricket, you have to bat simply and elegantly. Play late, play straight, and keep your eyes on the ball. India was unable to adhere to this philosophy, despite Sharma praising KL Rahul for his “brilliant” century in the opening innings.
After suffering a left hamstring injury on the first morning, Bavuma did not participate in the remainder of the game. According to a statement from Cricket South Africa, it was determined that he would not bat since there was a risk of his making the injury worse.
Bavuma’s suitability for the second Test was not mentioned. Following Bavuma’s injury, Elgar led the team on the field. Having led South Africa in 17 Tests, he is the favorite to assume leadership in Bavuma’s final Test if he is deemed unfit.
The second Test match is scheduled to start on January 3 at Newlands in Cape Town.
