The Indian team defeated South Africa in their fortress of Supersport Park in Centurion in the first Test match of the three-Test series on December 30, 2021, Thursday. Chasing 305 runs to win the match, Proteas were bundled out for 191 runs and lost the Test by 113 runs.
KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal gave India the perfect start after Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to bat first, by adding 117 runs for the opening wicket and despite a collapse of last 7 wickets falling for 49 runs, finished with 327 runs.
Lungi Ngidi picked 6 wickets for South Africa. However, their batting couldn’t do much as they managed just 197 runs with Temba Bavuma making 52. Mohammad Shami picked 5/44 and completed 200 wickets in Test matches.
In the second do, India managed just 174 runs with Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen picking four wickets apiece and setting South Africa 305 runs to win the match.
But despite 77 from Dean Elgar, three wickets each from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami and two scalp apiece from Mohammed Siraj and R Ashwin were enough for India to bowl Proteas out for 191 and win their first Test match in Centurion by 113 runs and go 1-0 up in the 3-Test series.
Indian captain Virat Kohli was ecstatic with the victory and in the post-match presentation, lauded the entire team for their performances, with special mentions to KL Rahul, Mohammad Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah.
“We got off to the perfect start we wanted to. Getting the result in four days shows how well we played. It's always a difficult place, South Africa, but we were clinical with bat, ball, and in the field. The discipline that the batters showed. Winning the toss, batting first overseas is a tough challenge. Credit to Mayank and KL for the way they set it up. We knew we were in pole position with anything over 300-320. Knew the bowlers will do the job.
The fact he (Jasprit Bumrah) didn't bowl much in the first innings, it allowed SA to get around 40-45 more runs. Just the way these guys bowl together has been a hallmark of our team getting a result in difficult situations,” Kohli said.
He was also all praises for Mohammad Shami and said: “Absolutely world-class talent (Shami). For me he's in the best three seamers in the world at the moment. His strong wrist, his seam position and his ability to hit a length consistently. Very, very happy for him to get 200 wickets and have impactful performances. Got so much confidence out of Johannesburg last time. It's a ground we love playing at.”
India and South Africa will clash in the second match of the series in Johannesburg from January 3 onwards.
(ESPNCricinfo/Cricbuzz inputs)
