After returning to world cricket in 1991 against India, South Africa once again returned to Indian shores after five years for a three-match Test series and an ODI. The venue for the series opener was the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad and by the time the Proteas returned to India, they had emerged as one of the world’s leading fast bowling units. The home team was led by the great Sachin Tendulkar, while Hansie Cronje was the visiting captain in that series.
Earlier in that match, the host team won the toss and decided to bat first. Captain Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin top-scored in the first innings before the team was bowled out for 223. Allan Donald returned with 4/37, while Pat Simcox and Fanny de Villiers took two wickets each.
India bounced back as they did not allow the visitors to settle at the crease but managed to post 244 before being dismissed, a slim lead of 21 runs. Daryl Cullinan (43), de Villiers (67) scored the most runs for his team, while Sunil Joshi acted with the ball in the first innings for India, with the spinner coming back with 4/43. Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble and Narendra Hirwani took two wickets each.
Donald again led with the ball (3/32) and backed by other South African bowlers, the visitors restricted India to just 190 in their second essay. The visiting team needed just 170 runs for their first Test win on Indian soil.
But Srinath had other plans for the tourists, with the Indian pacer giving a jaw-dropping look to the South African batsmen dancing to his tune. He provided the first breakthrough by trapping opener Andrew Hudson with an lbw before dismissing Daryl Cullinan for a duck.
Kumble and Joshi picked up wickets in the middle, but Srinath came back to dismiss Dave Richardson (7) and the dangerous Jonty Rhodes for a golden duck. This was the second time in that innings that Srinath had taken two wickets in two balls.
The Karnataka pacer completed the formalities by clearing the rest of the South African line-up. He finished with impressive figures of 6/21 in 11.5 overs, not only helping the visitors to bowl out for 105 runs, but also handing the famous 64-run victory on the fourth day itself.
Hansie Cronje & Co struggled to level the series in Kolkata, but the home team beat them by 280 runs in Kanpur to level 2-1.
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