Centurion: India signed on to 2021 with a 113-run win over South Africa in the first Test at SuperSport Park here on Thursday. The victory is also India’s first Test victory at the venue, which is largely considered a fortress for South Africa. With this win, India have also taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
It took only two overs after lunch for India to register a memorable win. Marco Jensen started the second session with two fours off Mohammed Shami. But on the fifth ball, Shami had the last laugh as he drew Johnson on the front foot for the defense but left keeper Rishabh Pant behind.
Ravichandran Ashwin took the first wicket by a spinner in the match, offering Kagiso Rabada’s flight outside off-stump. Rabada reaches for a drive but the outside edge goes behind Shami. On the very next ball, Ashwin sealed India’s victory in just 10 minutes of the second session as Lungi Ngidi dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara at backward short leg.
Earlier, resuming 94/4 under a clear bright sky, Bavuma and Dean Elgar struck time-bound boundaries to keep India disappointed. Shami dropped Elgar for 63 off his own delivery straight on the spot, adding to the wait for a breakthrough for the ‘Rists’.
India lost only 14 runs on Shami’s dropped opportunity as the 36-run partnership was ended by Jasprit Bumrah trapped in Elgar plumb lbw. The left-hander manipulates an attempt to flick, but misses Bumrah’s in-ducker which lands on his pads. He went for a review, but replays showed the ball hitting the stumps.
Trying to cut Siraj, Quinton de Kock broke some boundaries before cutting his stumps with Bavuma sharing a 31-run stand. In his second spell of the season, Shami straightened a length ball after pitching and took the outside edge of Viaan Mulder’s bat to Pant.
Bavuma lost his teammate but continued to hit boundaries. Along with Johnson, Bavuma made sure South Africa didn’t lose any more wickets before lunch. But resuming after the break, India took just 12 deliveries to break another fort after the Gabba at the start of the year, with a day washed out by rain.
Brief Scores: India 327 and 174 beat South Africa by 113 runs in 197 and 191 in 68 overs (Dean Elgar 77, Temba Bavuma 35 not out, Jasprit Bumrah 3/50, Mohammed Shami 3/63).
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