India [502/7d, 323/4d] defeat South Africa [431, 191] by 203 runs to win 1st Test

[jagatk]

Wasn't the greatest of starts but well played pujara.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

This is why toss doesn't matter much in India. Indian pitches are fair to both sides. Rank turner's are hard for everyone to bat and flat decks have runs for everyone. Best pitches in Asia and our curators have the largest hearts

 

[jagatk]

Why on earth send jadeja if he isn't going to go bang bang bang?

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Highest successful chase in Asia by a non Asian team is around 290 . Highest total was the 362 scored by Australia last year at Dubai which was a draw.

 

[MenInG]

RSA 431
IND 502/7 decl, 267/3 (60.4) CRR: 4.4
Day 4: 3rd Session - India lead by 338 runs

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="ro" dir="ltr">Most sixes in a Test match:<br><br>13 Rohit Sharma v S Africa - Vizag. October 2019.<br><br>12 Wasim Akram v Zimbabwe - Sheikhupura. October 1996.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/INDvSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#INDvSA</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1180432397483073536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[jagatk]

South African spinners are going to have hard time getting over this game. Especially piedt.

 

[Last Monetarist]

Piedt and Maharaj are absolutely rubbish, club level spinners. This is atrocious captaincy from du Plessis to not have opted to bowl his fast bowlers earlier.

 

[jagatk]

What exactly are they waiting for? 370 isn't any more of difficult target than 356 is. Declare

 

[sindhiboy]

Finally rabada gets a wicket.

 

[jagatk]

Pls tell they these idiots aren't going for 400, they aren't getting anywhere near 350 you idiot, declare.

 

[JattMaula]

Please Declare Kaptaan!

I know you are slow in head but please!!!

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Pls tell they these idiots aren't going for 400, they aren't getting anywhere near 350 you idiot, declare.

Pitch still seems good for batting despite the odd ball misbehaving. I think the way the Saffers batted in the first dig caught them by surprise. I think they are trying to ensure that Saffers have no chance of a win or atleast waiting to see signs of the pitch consistently misbehaving.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Pls tell they these idiots aren't going for 400, they aren't getting anywhere near 350 you idiot, declare.

Please Declare Kaptaan!

I know you are slow in head but please!!!

Exactly. We should have declared setting target of 330, if SA had pulled that off credit and massive respect to them.

Such a defensive captain this Kohli.

 

[jagatk]

Exactly. We should have declared setting target of 330, if SA had pulled that off credit and massive respect to them.

Such a defensive captain this Kohli.

One has to wonder whether kohli took a few swigs from shastri's bottle.

 

[maqbool]

Why are India still batting? Isnt this lead enough?

 

[jagatk]

Pitch still seems good for batting despite the odd ball misbehaving. I think the way the Saffers batted in the first dig caught them by surprise. I think they are trying to ensure that Saffers have no chance of a win or atleast waiting to see signs of the pitch consistently misbehaving.

If they score 350, they will score 390. No one wanted them to declare at 320, but how exactly is 360 worse than 394. These morons have wasted precious time especially with the ball doing a lot of things even later.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

So around 111 overs to get 395. That's more than 3.5 an over.

 

[Last Monetarist]

The light is too bad for India to get many overs in tonight. They should have declared half an hour ago.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

If they score 350, they will score 390. No one wanted them to declare at 320, but how exactly is 360 worse than 394. These morons have wasted precious time especially with the ball doing a lot of things even later.

Jadejas bowling form may have also factored into the decision . Ashwin was the only one taking wickets. They wanted more of a cushion I suppose. If there is no rain around, 111 overs is enough to bowl out any team in fourth innings. If not, it will be a failure of the bowling.

 

[MenInG]

RSA 431
IND 502/7 decl, 323/4 (67.0) CRR: 4.82
Day 4: Innings Break - India lead by 394 runs

 

[jagatk]

How did that miss the stumps and why would you have a long on right now. Did they replace kohli with dhoni?

 

[jagatk]

Jadejas bowling form may have also factored into the decision . Ashwin was the only one taking wickets. They wanted more of a cushion I suppose. If there is no rain around, 111 overs is enough to bowl out any team in fourth innings. If not, it will be a failure of the bowling.

But you don't get these conditions tomorrow, they are playing to survive and light helps us too

 

[jagatk]

Elgar very lucky there.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

But you don't get these conditions tomorrow, they are playing to survive and light helps us too

Maybe not but it's not the worst decision imo. He's dangled the bait, hoping that Saffers will go for the total. Let's see what happens.

 

[tyron_woodley]

Piedt and Maharaj are absolutely rubbish, club level spinners. This is atrocious captaincy from du Plessis to not have opted to bowl his fast bowlers earlier.

uh They are tired plus they did nothing really.

 

[jagatk]

Piedt and Maharaj are absolutely rubbish, club level spinners. This is atrocious captaincy from du Plessis to not have opted to bowl his fast bowlers earlier.

They bowled 25 of the 67. Don't think could have bowled more, there is such a thing called endurance limits.

 

[maqbool]

:

Elgar goes

 

[Last Monetarist]

They bowled 25 of the 67. Don't think could have bowled more, there is such a thing called endurance limits.

It was his own fault for not rotating them properly and picking an absolute passenger as the third spinner. There was no reason for them to be bowling 7 over spells straight after lunch. SA gave away 60-70 free runs because Piedt and Maharaj were bowling poorly in tandem. du Plessis could have been creative and bowled the likes of Markram to change things a bit.

 

[MenInG]

:

Elgar goes

IND 502/7 decl, 323/4 decl
RSA 431, 11/1 (7.4) CRR: 1.43
Day 4: 3rd Session - South Africa need 384 runs

 

[jagatk]

Could have easily gotten 3-4 overs more and maybe one more wicket.

 

[MenInG]

IND 502/7 decl, 323/4 decl
RSA 431, 11/1 (9.0) CRR: 1.22
Day 4: Stumps - South Africa need 384 runs

 

[tyron_woodley]

c'mon bharat. destroy the saffers.

 

[jagatk]

It was his own fault for not rotating them properly and picking an absolute passenger as the third spinner. There was no reason for them to be bowling 7 over spells straight after lunch. SA gave away 60-70 free runs because Piedt and Maharaj were bowling poorly in tandem. du Plessis could have been creative and bowled the likes of Markram to change things a bit.

How do you pick someone better when you don't have any better? I am sure everyone would like to have their own ashwin and jadeja, just like we would like a few like cummins or archer. You have to pick someone and picking a pacer wouldn't have worked and an additional batsman would have been a big tonking for elgar and markram.

 

[MenInG]

SHARMA SETS TEMPO WITH BACK-TO-BACK CENTURIES

Saturday, 05 October 2019

ROHIT SHARMA completed back-to-back centuries to enable India to regain a firm grip on the opening Test match against the Standard Bank Proteas at Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

The Proteas had done extremely well to restrict India’s first innings lead to just 71 runs and the home side needed to score quickly to give themselves a chance to have a second crack at the visiting batsmen before the close of play on day four.

And that is exactly what Sharma enabled them to do. He finished on 127 (149 balls, 10 fours and 7 sixes) and enabled his side to score 140 without losing a wicket in the extended middle session and then a further 148 off just 19 overs when they really put the hammer down in the lead-up to the declaration.

It left South Africa with a target of 395 in what amounts to 107 overs, something that no side visiting India has ever managed to come even close to in the fourth innings of a Test match.

It certainly meant that Virat Kohli showed a healthy dose of respect for the South African batting line-up.

India kept the pressure on the Proteas in the nine overs that were possible before bad light brought a slightly early close when Ravindra Jadeja dismissed first innings centurion Dean Elgar leg before wicket with a ball that kept low.

The Proteas closed on 11/1 and need a nominal 384 to complete victory. However, surviving the remaining 98 overs looks distinctly possible. So far only 22 wickets have fallen in the match (11 on each side) and, apart from variable bounce, batting for long periods seems quite achievable.

Apart from Sharma, the standout players for India on the day were Ravi Ashwin, who took the last two remaining wickets in the Proteas first innings to finish with seven in the innings although he had to bowl 46.2 overs to achieve that, and Cheteshwar Pujara who returned to form with an innings of 81 (148 balls, 13 fours and 2 sixes) and shared a partnership of 169 for the second wicket with Sharma.

As had happened in the first innings it took a superb delivery from Vernon Philander to claim his wicket.

While the Proteas will be happy with the way their batting is gelling, there will be concern at the manner in which all three their spinners came under the pump with only Dane Piedt managing to bowl some maiden overs.

India have lost only 11 wickets in the match and that is something to address in the build-up to the second test.

It was not reflected in his figures but Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the South African attack but had little luck with edges that either fell short or just wide of the catching cordon.

Keshav Maharaj’s five wickets in the match takes his career total to 99 and puts him on the brink of becoming the 18th member of the distinguished 100 club.

 

[The Viper]

India in driver's seat after Rohit twin centuries

South Africa lost Dean Elgar early in their chase of 395, after Rohit Sharma’s second century in the match helped India plunder 323/4 in their second innings on day four of the Visakhapatnam Test.

The hosts had 13 overs to play with till close of play after the declaration, only nine of which could be bowled because of deteriorating light. Spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja started off the proceedings for India. Ashwin almost got Elgar in the first over with a ball that skidded on, missing the batsman's attempted drive and nicking the off stump. Luckily for the opener, the bails refused to budge. However, the first-innings centurion’s luck ran out just a couple of overs later when Jadeja trapped him in front on 2.

Aiden Markram and Theunis de Bruyn then negotiated five more overs before bad light stopped play, the visitors now needing 384 runs on day five.

Earlier on day four, South Africa resumed on 385/8, 117 runs behind, with Senuran Muthuswamy unbeaten on 12 and Keshav Maharaj on three. The duo could add only 11 more runs to the overnight total before Ashwin dismissed Maharaj for nine.

Muthuswamy persisted with No.11 Kagiso Rabada to add 35 runs for the final wicket adding to India’s frustration. But it was Ashwin again, who came to the rescue and picked up his fifth seven-wicket haul in Tests when he trapped Rabada in front of leg on 15. The South African tail’s resistance chipped away the deficit and kept India’s lead down to 71.

In order to force a result, the hosts needed quick runs to build on their lead. However, the South African bowlers kept things tight at the beginning with Vernon Philander leading the charge. At the other end, Keshav Maharaj almost had Rohit stumped in the sixth over but the opener was quick to slide his back foot inside before the bails were taken off. Maharaj continued to poke and prod inviting the first-innings double centurion Mayank Agarwal to nick one into the slips. Rohit and Cheteshwar Pujara then ensured that India played the remaining six overs before lunch without further hiccups.

India switched to fifth gear in the second session, Rohit putting away the loose deliveries for boundaries and quickly notching up his 11th Test fifty in just 72 balls. The opening batsman’s cleaning hitting inspired Pujara to up his own ante after the drinks break. The No.3 batsman took on the spinners and soon caught up with Rohit, scoring his 21st half-century in Tests. He had taken 62 balls to score his first eight runs but only 44 more to add 45 runs and complete his fifty.

Nothing went in South Africa’s favour as they failed to create chances and were equally poor in the field, boosting the confidence of the Indian batsmen. By tea, India had raced to 175/1 with the duo adding 154 for the second wicket.

The 20-minute pause before the final session brought a lapse in Pujara’s concentration, who managed to survive for less than three overs. He was done in by a jaffa by Philander, falling just 19 runs short of his hundred. At the other end, Rohit continued his onslaught, becoming only the second Indian opener after Sunil Gavaskar to score a century in both innings of a Test. He also became the first batsman to score two hundreds on debut as an opener. He accelerated after the hundred, even plundering Dane Piedt for three consecutive sixes at one point. However, Maharaj once again brought an end to his resistance, drawing him forward on a well-flighted ball. Rohit, who was not at the pitch of the ball, missed the loft with Quinton de Kock making quick work behind the stumps.

Jadeja scored a swift 32-ball 40 before being bowled by Rabada and Virat Kohli partnered with Ajinkya Rahane to add brisk runs, taking India's lead close to 400 before declaring.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/1368621

 

[jnaveen1980]

Quick blows. Bavum unlucky to get a ball that hardly had any bounce. 20/3

 

[jnaveen1980]

I don't understand the logic of Faf coming in at 5. He is their best batsman.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Shami is bowling an outstanding spell.

 

[jnaveen1980]

It is going to be a nightmare for batsman with occasional balls scooting.

 

[MenInG]

ND 502/7 decl, 323/4 decl
RSA 431, 30/3 (15.1) CRR: 1.98
Day 5: 1st Session - South Africa need 365 runs

 

[jagatk]

Not impressed by kohli's captaincy here, there is no need for a long on. If he wants to have a go let him, they aren't going to score 390 in a day.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

It is going to be a nightmare for batsman with occasional balls scooting.

The pitch is very good for batting actually

 

[jagatk]

Second innings shami doing well!!!

 

[sweep_shot]

South Africans are in a hurry.

60/5.

 

[MenInG]

IND 502/7 decl, 323/4 decl
RSA 431, 60/5 (23.2) CRR: 2.57
Day 5: 1st Session - South Africa need 335 runs

 

[sweep_shot]

Markham is looking good. Rest are collapsing like a pack of cards.

 

[jagatk]

Markham is looking good. Rest are collapsing like a pack of cards.

Tbf markram's had his share of luck.

 

[sweep_shot]

66/5 after 25 overs.

South Africa still have 82 overs to survive. Tough ask considering they have only 5 wickets left.

Tbf markram's had his share of luck.

Luck is part of cricket.

 

[jagatk]

66/5 after 25 overs.

South Africa still have 82 overs to survive. Tough ask considering they have only 5 wickets left.



Luck is part of cricket.

It has run out now, stupid shot to play at this stage and a great catch.

 

[sweep_shot]

70/6.

Markham is gone.

South Africa are choking.

 

[sweep_shot]

70/7.

Philander is gone.

Another one bites the dust.

 

[sweep_shot]

Maharaj gone. 3 wickets in 1 over!

Jadeja on a hat-trick.

70/8.

 

[MMHS]

The contest was over once India won the toss - rain made it little tighter for the host. As expected, SAF did make a fight in 1st innings, but absolutely no contest in 2nd.

 

[MenInG]

IND 502/7 decl, 323/4 decl
RSA 431, 117/8 (42.0) CRR: 2.79
Day 5: Lunch Break - South Africa need 278 runs

 

[andy0204]

Now Saffers will start whining about the pitches.

 

[Mesozoic]

Now Saffers will start whining about the pitches.

I think they've lost the credibility to whine about pitches after preparing a mine field at wanderers when India toured last time.

 

[BalluBalleBaaz]

Swami buying few more matches for himself. Where is the next test macth at?

 

[MenInG]

IND 502/7 decl, 323/4 decl
RSA 431, 142/8 (49.5) CRR: 2.85
Day 5: 2nd Session - South Africa need 253 runs

 

[jagatk]

India playing 4d chess with saffers, can't drop your only 2 decent batsmen from 4th innings.

 

[jiduguravindra]

Now Saffers will start whining about the pitches.

Pitch is not bad at all, actually it is very good test pitch.playing new ball is quiet difficult in this pitch that's where sa lost the match..
U can see these two all rounders are playing well.Ball is not doing that much considering it is day 5 pitch.

 

[Ozymandiasza]

Congrats India. I've been following this match on-and-off. Fortunately, the Rugby World Cup is on.

These new batsmen should grow a spine. First innings heroics from the seniors are meaningless if the rest of the team doesn't stand up in the second.

 

[TheRock]

Awesome bowling by Shami Bhai.

 

[Saj]

Comprehensive win.

Impressive bowling particularly by Shami in the 2nd innings.

 

[sindhiboy]

Shami>rabada?

 

[tyron_woodley]

Shami>rabada?

for sure without doubt. I know who I would pick as a captain and it's not rabada.

shami is a brilliant bowler. underrated unlike that fraud.

shami's average over the past 4 years is under 23.

shami is a world class bowler. only dimwits like ram shekar would disagree.

forget about shami, umesh would wreak havoc in india. umesh alone was enough for australua the last time they toured in india.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Shami>rabada?

Only in India.

 

[tyron_woodley]

Only in India.

in asia.
in England
in west indies

shami is better.

shami is now better in australia too.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

in asia.
in England
in west indies

shami is better.

shami is now better in australia too.

Um, Rabada averages 28 in England and 22 in Australia, lower than Shami's career average.

 

[tyron_woodley]

Um, Rabada averages 28 in England and 22 in Australia, lower than Shami's career average.

in the last 4 year's, things have changed boy.

stronger faster fitter shami 2.0 is unfortunately better than that overrated fraud.

shami has Improved a fair bit like Johnson towards the tail end of his career.

also rabada averages 60 in india now. wow what a bowler.

rabada is only 24 though. But he can very well be an early bloomer. No guarantee he would get better and he has actually shown signs of regression. Needs to change his attitude too.

 

[andy0204]

in the last 4 year's, things have changed boy.

stronger faster fitter shami 2.0 is unfortunately better than that overrated fraud.

shami has Improved a fair bit like Johnson towards the tail end of his career.

also rabada averages 60 in india now. wow what a bowler.

rabada is only 24 though. But he can very well be an early bloomer. No guarantee he would get better and he has actually shown signs of regression. Needs to change his attitude too.

Everytime I see you in this thread you always criticize someone when he plays bad.
Overrated hack what's that.
He was bowling well in the IPL.
We saw Rabada struggling since from WC due to injury.
He just needs rest.

 

[tyron_woodley]

Everytime I see you in this thread you always criticize someone when he plays bad.
Overrated hack what's that.
He was bowling well in the IPL.
We saw Rabada struggling since from WC due to injury.
He just needs rest.

rabada averages 60 in india. he is wildly overrated. he is good on friendly tracks. that's it. He isn't a top tier bowler. Not GOAT material. His average is very misleading just like the other fodder vernon who often skips difficult tours.

That's why I feel average isn't everything. It depends on how that average is obtained and against who, what level of competition, conditions, support bowlers.

rabada also had steyn and morkel to support him on opposite ends before. they made the workload easier.

 

[MenInG]

The end was swift. It could have come quicker, but for a record ninth-wicket stand for South Africa in Tests against India.

Cheteshwar Pujara had spoken at the end of the fourth day of there being enough cracks on the surface for India’s spinners to exploit, and expressed confidence at getting an outright result in their favour.

Win they did, by 203 runs, and in a matter of just 63.5 overs, as South Africa were rolled over for 191, thanks to Mohammed Shami’s 5/35 and Ravindra Jadeja’s 4/87. That the visitors lasted well beyond lunch was only thanks to a dogged ninth-wicket partnership between Dane Piedt and Senuran Muthusamy. Together, they put on 91 runs when no other South African pair had managed to string together more than 32.

The gates opened on the 11th ball of the day, when Theunis de Bruyn attempted to cut R Ashwin, only for the ball to dip and spin in to crash off the inside edge into the stumps. The wicket was Ashwin’s 350th in 66 Tests, making him the joint-fastest to the mark, alongside Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan.

That was the breakthrough that sent the innings into a tailspin, as South Africa lost seven wickets in just over 16 overs, adding 51 runs in that time.

But it wasn’t just the spinners doing all the damage. Shami produced a three-wicket burst to rip through the heart of the middle order and accelerate the slide. He first went through Temba Bavuma with a length ball that kept so low that the batsman was swept off his feet as he tried to adjust to the lack of height and the ball snuck through to take out the stumps.

Du Plessis could hardly believe his luck when he let a seemingly innocuous delivery in the fifth-stump channel go, only to watch the ball, to his utter horror, cut back in sharply and abruptly change course to take out his off-stump. De Kock paid the price for lack of feet movement, leaving a huge gap between bat and pad that was enough for a length ball to straighten and sneak through.

All this while, Aiden Markram had played some confident strokes, especially down the ground, reaping the rewards for decisive footwork against India’s spinners. He also employed the sweep to good effect. Seeing another opportunity to score when Jadeja tossed one up to him, Markram, this time rooted to the crease, looked to shovel him down the ground and lofted the ball after seeing the field inside. But Jadeja intercepted it easily in a spectacular caught-and-bowled, sticking his left hand out and snaffling a stunner, with minimal time to react.

He was then convinced that India should review a withheld lbw appeal against Vernon Philander, which turned out to be the right call, as Philander was sent back for a pair. Keshav Maharaj suffered the same fate a ball later, pushing South Africa further down the brink and prompting India to ask for a 15-minute extension of the morning session.

That didn’t turn out to be enough, nor did the first hour and a bit of the afternoon session, as Piedt and Muthusamy stoically denied India’s spinners, defending assuredly and punishing errors in length. With seven hundreds and 18 fifties in first-class cricket, Muthusamy is a capable batsman, but here, he played second fiddle to Piedt, who did the bulk of the scoring in the partnership.

Though he has a hundred and 11 fifties at the first-class level, Piedt has never passed fifty in Test cricket. He did that on Sunday, but all it could do was delay what was already a certainty. Shami returned to strike with the first ball of his new spell, drawing the inside edge and rattling the woodwork of Piedt. All four of his wickets until then had been bowled. That would change when Kagiso Rabada threw his hands at a wide fuller one from Shami and edged behind to Wriddhiman Saha to put the finishing touches on a comprehensive victory.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/1371458

 

[MenInG]

The first match between India vs South Africa in Vizag broke the world record for most sixes in a Test match ever. Dane Piedt registered the record 36th six in the Vizag Test after hitting Ravindra Jadeja for a maximum in the 35th over. The previous record for most sixes in Tests came in 2014-15 when the match between Pakistan and New Zealand in Sharjah recorded 35 maximums. Among the individual contributors, twin century scorer Rohit Sharma (13) hit the most number of sixes in this match.

India had hit 13 sixes in their first innings while South Africa had contributed with seven. In the second innings, India hit 14 maximums while South Africa managed merely three sixes so far.

India won the first Test in Vizag, taking a 1-0 lead in the three match series.

A win in the Vizag Test meant India began their home leg of World Test Championship with a win. They have maintained a 100 per cent record in the World Test Championship after clean sweeping the away series against the West Indies.

The final two Tests between India and South Africa will be played in Pune and Ranchi respectively.

https://sports.ndtv.com/india-vs-so...cords-most-sixes-in-a-test-match-ever-2112656

 

[MenInG]

MOHAMMED SHAMI produced a brilliant spell of reverse swing bowling to strike the mortal blows that earned India victory by 203 runs with more than a session to spare in the opening Test match of the Freedom Series against the Standard Bank Proteas at Visakhapatnam on Sunday.

He dismissed Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock – the latter two in the space of three balls – who were all bowled.

With Ravi Ashwin getting rid of Theunis de Bruyn and Ravindra Jadeja then taking a brilliant one-handed return catch to dismiss Aiden Markram, the writing was on the wall at 70/6 in the 27th over.

Markam’s 39 off 74 balls (5 fours and 1 six) provided the only resistance of note in the top order although there was resistance lower down from Senuran Muthusamy who was left stranded one run short of a maiden half-century (49 not out, 108 balls, 5 fours) and Dane Piedt who did reach a half-century (56 off 107 balls, 9 fours and a six) during a ninth wicket partnership of 91, a South African record partnership against India.

There was further resistance from Muthusamy and Kagiso Rabada who added 30 runs with the last two wickets appropriately being taken by Shami who finished with 5/35 in one ball short of 11 overs.

He was backed up by Jadeja (4/87 in 25).

Rohit Sharma was an obvious choice as man of the match for his centuries in each innings.

When they review the match the Proteas main concern will be with the bowling rather than the batting. South Africa has not often made 400 runs in their first innings on the sub-continent, particularly after losing the toss, and there are much stronger batting line-ups than this one that have got bowled out cheaply in the fourth innings.

What is disappointing is that they let India get away from them in the second innings after restricting them to a manageable lead of 71 runs. The Proteas only got 11 wickets in the match with India having the luxury of declaring twice.

The important thing is that the team has gone forward in terms of handling Indian conditions and they will have to continue to be quick learners.

Notable performances were obviously the centuries scored by Dean Elgar and De Kock and the debut batting form down the order by Muthusamy who made over 80 runs for once out. Markram also looks as though he is coming to terms with sub-continent conditions.

The second Test match starts at Pune on Thursday.

 

[andy0204]

rabada averages 60 in india. he is wildly overrated. he is good on friendly tracks. that's it. He isn't a top tier bowler. Not GOAT material. His average is very misleading just like the other fodder vernon who often skips difficult tours.

That's why I feel average isn't everything. It depends on how that average is obtained and against who, what level of competition, conditions, support bowlers.

rabada also had steyn and morkel to support him on opposite ends before. they made the workload easier.

He did well in Srilanka last year.

Remember it was his debut series and didn't have any experience to bowl on those conditions that's why he struggled.
Let's give him a chance,he is only 24.
He barely had Steyn because Steyn was injured for 2 years.

 

[bantu]

De Kock and Elgar are turning it on! What a sight. One more white team exposing fraud spinners here. I foresee this series turning on its head at this moment!

Talk na ... You should stop foreseeing...

 

[Hasan123]

India are too strong at home in tests for teams in this era. Don't see them losing a series in India under Kohli.

 

[tyron_woodley]

India are too strong at home in tests for teams in this era. Don't see them losing a series in India under Kohli.

forget about home. india won't lose a test match if they win the toss even away.

zero losses when toss was in India's favour away.

But every cycle will come to an end at some point. The same happened to the Aussies of early 2000.

 

[shantanu]

Talk na ... You should stop foreseeing...

Sir Ram Shekhar is right up there with Bradman and Smith in the ATG list. He can foresee stuff which never comes to pass. Now thats one heck of a skill.
Dear Ram Shekhar sir, could you please care to share your insight into this 'fluke' victory by this nonsense-overrated-Home-track-bully team?
Please do sir!