India seal dramatic win despite series defeat
India beat South Africa by 63 runs to avoid series whitewash and maintain number 1 ranking in Tests.
Having lost the first two Test matches in Cape Town and Centurion, Virat Kohli and his men were desperate to set things right in Johannesburg. South Africa on the other hand were aiming for a 3-0 series whitewash in order to leapfrog India at the top of the test match rankings.
It was the Indians who won the toss and decide to bat first on a pitch which looked difficult to bat on and that proved to be the case as the tourists were bundled out for just 187 with Kohli being the top scorer with 54 runs including another crucial 50 runs from Cheteshwar Pujara.
With a low score on the board, everybody especially the Indian cricket fans thought that this was going to be the same old story as the previous test, but the Indians had other ideas.
It was India's pace attack who were determined to pull things back and they did so with a stunning performance by a stunning bowling performance from Jasprit Bumrah who took 5 wickets for 54 runs where South Africa could only manage a first innings score of 194, which gave them a slender lead of just 7 runs.
India then had to bat on a really tricky and worn out pitch, where they managed to get a score of 247 which gave South Africa a target of 240 runs for victory.
The tourists got of to the perfect start with Mohammad Shami removing Aiden Markram who nicked a ball on off stump that bounced more than he expected, Parthiv Patel the man behind the stumps took a good low catch to his right.
The pitch then started to misbehave and put doubts in the batsman's mind. With the score on 17-1, left handed opener Dean Elgar was then struck on the helmet by Bumrah from a ball that was pitched just short of a good length. Because of this, play had to be called of on the fourth day due to a dangerous pitch. This did not please the Indians at all as they felt that while they were batting, they had to face similar conditions, so why not the Proteas.
Play did however, resume the following day, after an hour delay due to rain. The proteas managed to see out the first session with out losing a wicket with the score on 67-1.
Post lunch, Elgar and Hashim Amla steadied the ship for the the first half hour before Amla chipped the ball straight to Hardik Pandya who took a fine catch diving to his right from the bowling of Ishant Sharma.
Ab de Villiers was the next man to go. The number 2 ranked one day batsman received an absolute snorter from Bumrah, which hit his glove and flew straight into the safe hands of Ajinkya Rahane at gully leaving the score on 131-3.
Post de Villiers's wicket, the rest of the South African batting lineup were blown away as India managed to pick up the remaining seven wickets for just 46 runs, sealing a tremendous victory for Kohli and his boys as it was their first Test victory outside the sub-continent since 2014, where they beat England at Lords.
For his magnificent display of bowling taking 3 crucial wickets in both innings plus a crucial knock of 30 runs, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was accredited man of the match.
Vernon Philander was accredited man of the series for picking up the most wickets in the three Tests.
Kohli was extremely glad to win the final Test in South Africa. 'A lot of people didn't have belief in us but as a team we knew that we were very close in the first two Tests too. We knew that if we played better in pressure-situations than them, then we would win," he said. "And we did that in this Test match. This win was very important from our and the Indian team's point of view, and we were determined to win this match,'
This is the start of what will be a very important year for team India as they still have two massive tours to both England and Australia. It will be fascinating to see how Kohli and his troops cope with the pressure of attempting to achieve success overseas, especially in the test format, which is something that they will want to put forward in both tours.
The pitch then started to misbehave and put doubts in the batsman's mind. With the score on 17-1, left handed opener Dean Elgar was then struck on the helmet by Bumrah from a ball that was pitched just short of a good length. Because of this, play had to be called of on the fourth day due to a dangerous pitch. This did not please the Indians at all as they felt that while they were batting, they had to face similar conditions, so why not the Proteas.
Play did however, resume the following day, after an hour delay due to rain. The proteas managed to see out the first session with out losing a wicket with the score on 67-1.
Post lunch, Elgar and Hashim Amla steadied the ship for the the first half hour before Amla chipped the ball straight to Hardik Pandya who took a fine catch diving to his right from the bowling of Ishant Sharma.
Ab de Villiers was the next man to go. The number 2 ranked one day batsman received an absolute snorter from Bumrah, which hit his glove and flew straight into the safe hands of Ajinkya Rahane at gully leaving the score on 131-3.
Post de Villiers's wicket, the rest of the South African batting lineup were blown away as India managed to pick up the remaining seven wickets for just 46 runs, sealing a tremendous victory for Kohli and his boys as it was their first Test victory outside the sub-continent since 2014, where they beat England at Lords.
For his magnificent display of bowling taking 3 crucial wickets in both innings plus a crucial knock of 30 runs, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was accredited man of the match.
Vernon Philander was accredited man of the series for picking up the most wickets in the three Tests.
Kohli was extremely glad to win the final Test in South Africa. 'A lot of people didn't have belief in us but as a team we knew that we were very close in the first two Tests too. We knew that if we played better in pressure-situations than them, then we would win," he said. "And we did that in this Test match. This win was very important from our and the Indian team's point of view, and we were determined to win this match,'
This is the start of what will be a very important year for team India as they still have two massive tours to both England and Australia. It will be fascinating to see how Kohli and his troops cope with the pressure of attempting to achieve success overseas, especially in the test format, which is something that they will want to put forward in both tours.
