197/10 (62.3)
CRR : 3.15
327/10 (105.3)
CRR : 3.10
India won by 113 runs
Player of the Match
Player
123(260)^23(74)
IND won by 113 runs
Over 68
South Africa 191/10
Temba Bavuma35(80)
Ravichandran Ashwin2-18(9.0)
Singh: History is written here at Centurion. Ravichandran Ashwin took just 2 deliveries to wrap up the tail after the dismissal of Marco Jansen as India beat South Africa by a massive 113 runs. India's dominance continues. This is South Africa's third-ever Test defeat at the SuperSport Park.
Arya: History has been made at the Centurion. India's first Test win at this venue and they take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. An incredible effort from the Indian bowlers to finish off the South African tail in a flash. It took just 12 deliveries from Shami and Ashwin after lunch to give India a historic victory. South Africa's fortress has been breached as India continues to win Test matches away from home quite consistently.
Arya: When the day started, it was always going to be tough for South African to save the match or even try to chase this target down. The overnight batter Dean Elgar started off proceedings with Temba Bavuma and both defied the Indian bowlers at least for the first half-hour of the match. Mohammed Shami dropped a sitter of his own bowling but Elgar could only add 14 more to his tally as Jasprit Bumrah- India's go-to man provided the much-needed breakthrough when he trapped the Proteas skipper right in front.
Wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock started off in a positive fashion playing some delectable strokes but it was the big hearted bowler Mohammed Siraj who accounted for QDK as he again played one away from the body and ended up chopping it straight onto his stumps. From there on it was always going to be a difficult task for the Proteas. Mohammed Shami then produced a jaffa to remove Wiann Mulder.
South Africa was seven down when lunch was taken and with Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada still in the hut, they would have hoped for a better resistance post-lunch. After smashing Shami for a couple of boundaries just after lunch, the speedster had the last laugh as he induced the outside edge of Jansen's bat with a delivery pitching just outside off and straightening enough to take the edge.
Ravichandran Ashwin who was wicketless all through the match then came for his final spell to bag the wickets of Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi to hand India a 113 runs victory- their first-ever in Centurion. This is certainly one of India's finest victories overseas given they had never won here before despite having strong teams in the past.
Wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock started off in a positive fashion playing some delectable strokes but it was the big hearted bowler Mohammed Siraj who accounted for QDK as he again played one away from the body and ended up chopping it straight onto his stumps. From there on it was always going to be a difficult task for the Proteas. Mohammed Shami then produced a jaffa to remove Wiann Mulder.
South Africa was seven down when lunch was taken and with Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada still in the hut, they would have hoped for a better resistance post-lunch. After smashing Shami for a couple of boundaries just after lunch, the speedster had the last laugh as he induced the outside edge of Jansen's bat with a delivery pitching just outside off and straightening enough to take the edge.
Ravichandran Ashwin who was wicketless all through the match then came for his final spell to bag the wickets of Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi to hand India a 113 runs victory- their first-ever in Centurion. This is certainly one of India's finest victories overseas given they had never won here before despite having strong teams in the past.
Time for the post-match presentation ceremony.
Dean Elgar - "Obviously not a nice thing that will sit with me after losing this Test. There are lot of positives still to take in this Test. India played really well and they should get credit for that. Always going to be tough. The Indian openers played the fundamentals pretty well. We fought back and then let it slip after tea. No doubt our bowlers were brilliant after Day 1. They executed exactly what they needed to do in this wicket. The new ball again spoke for them. They executed the right line and lengths. We didn't get where he wanted to be with the bat. We fought back again with the ball. Cannot emphasise the bowlers but with the bat we let ourselves down. Their opening partnership set up the match for them. The difference was the batting between the two teams. We have to sit down myself and the management. We didn't do a lot of wrong things but still fell behind."
Virat Kohli -"We got off to the perfect start. Getting a result within four days shows how well we played. Always a difficult place to play against South Africa. It's a top start from us. The discipline that the batsman shows. Winning the toss and batting first overseas is always a tough challenge. The openers set up the Test match for us. We were in pole position. We knew anything above 300-320 will be a very good score. We have always believed in our bowlers and they delivered.
Look we just spoke about it in the change room. We could have had a larger lead had Bumrah bowled more in the first innings. Having a guy running with someone who has also got good skill sets. Just the way these guys bowls together. This has been our hallmark. Huge credit to them not only for this Test but for the way Indian team has performed over the last 4-5 years.
Shami is perhaps among the top 3 fast bowlers in the world at the moment. Very happy for him to get 200th Test wicket. That was probably a big milestone for us as a side. We came to South Africa to test ourselves. The two Tests we played before were competitive. Probably in the toughest pitch last time in Johannesburg gave us a lot of confidence to play cricket over the last few years."
Look we just spoke about it in the change room. We could have had a larger lead had Bumrah bowled more in the first innings. Having a guy running with someone who has also got good skill sets. Just the way these guys bowls together. This has been our hallmark. Huge credit to them not only for this Test but for the way Indian team has performed over the last 4-5 years.
Shami is perhaps among the top 3 fast bowlers in the world at the moment. Very happy for him to get 200th Test wicket. That was probably a big milestone for us as a side. We came to South Africa to test ourselves. The two Tests we played before were competitive. Probably in the toughest pitch last time in Johannesburg gave us a lot of confidence to play cricket over the last few years."
KL Rahul- "I spoke about this morning. It was the grit and determination. It is very important when you bat in a challenging pitch, its important for the openers to set the tone. I am very happy to have contributed for the team. I don't think I have made too many technical changes. It has been more about my mindset and how disciplined I have become in Test cricket.
I have really hard on my game with the batting coach during the time when I was dropped. The discipline I have shown has been the biggest contribution for me for performing outside India and being consistent. It's very sweet to have seven centuries overseas. Something I need to work on. Shami's spell kept us on the park a bit lesser.
As a fast bowling unit they have shown a lot of heart. Our consistency has gone down to their performance in the last 2-3 years. They were very disciplined and kept pitching in the right areas. Shami bowled brilliantly. Very very special. Gives us a lot of confidence. We need to build on this and try to win another Test match in a few days time."
I have really hard on my game with the batting coach during the time when I was dropped. The discipline I have shown has been the biggest contribution for me for performing outside India and being consistent. It's very sweet to have seven centuries overseas. Something I need to work on. Shami's spell kept us on the park a bit lesser.
As a fast bowling unit they have shown a lot of heart. Our consistency has gone down to their performance in the last 2-3 years. They were very disciplined and kept pitching in the right areas. Shami bowled brilliantly. Very very special. Gives us a lot of confidence. We need to build on this and try to win another Test match in a few days time."
A special way to end the year for the Indian Test team. What an effort it was to finish the match off just after lunch. The second Test is just three days away and the home team will look to bounce back at Johannesburg. Till then it's adios from me (Arya Sekhar Chakraborty) and my fellow commentators Anurag Singh and Arjun Bhalla.