With over two days remaining, South Africa defeated the first Test by an innings and 32 runs, shattering Rohit Sharma’s team’s dreams of making history in this country and securing a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
The second innings for India lasted a mere 34.1 overs.
Earlier, South Africa took a 163 lead after a fantastic innings by Dean Elgar (185, 287b, 28×4). They did this without the services of captain Temba Bavuma, who departed the pitch during the first session of the match due to a hamstring issue.
After that, it was always going to be a tough climb. However, few could have predicted that India would fall so quickly or so dramatically.
India had little chance of stopping pace sensation Kagiso Rabada and his three less experienced teammates. The students and the teacher split the loot.
The South African pacers claimed the wickets of all but one of the Indian hitters, Jasprit Bumrah being run out while trying to score a second run that never happened.
Even though he was a part of the confusion, Virat Kohli (76, 82b, 12×4, 1×6) was powerless to stop the amazing collapse that was happening all around him.
The start of India’s second innings wasn’t great. Once more, Rabada defeated his archenemy, Rohit Sharma, with a stunning stroke that angled in, beat the Indian skipper all the way to the finish, and rattled his stumps.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made a great debut in the West Indies earlier this year, is learning a lot about Test match cricket. However, he was also hit hard by a ball that was delivered by Nandre Burger, a left-arm fast who was making his debut. The ball climbed steeply and the opener was unable to remove his gloves.
Burgers are turning out to be a delicious addition to the illustrious history of fast bowling in South Africa. Additionally, he claimed K.L. Rahul, one of the most valuable Indian wickets.
Before Burger created an outside advantage, the centurion could only muster four runs in the first inning. After Rahul was dismissed, only 96 had passed since nearly half of the team had returned to the dressing room.
The scorecard for India was painful to read. Shubman Gill was the only player to score in double figures besides Kohli. Before being thoroughly embarrassed by Marco Jansen, who appeared to have transferred his batting form from earlier in the day to his bowling, his 26-run innings appeared promising.
Jansen scored a career-high 84 not out (147b, 11×4, 1×6), and the Proteas would rely heavily on his 111-run partnership with Elgar. After rejoining at 256 for five at night, the pair persisted in frustrating the Indian bowlers, Bumrah foremost among them.
He bowled exceptionally effectively to collect four for 69 in his first Test match in more than a year and a half. But the bowlers from South Africa would soon surpass him.