In the end, South Africa suffered a massive 337-run loss to surrender the series 3-0 to India, but what caught the eye was the steely resolve exhibited by their batsmen on the final two days of the fourth Test at the Ferozshah Kotla.
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The visitors’ time-consuming tactics had forced India to try out different bowlers on Day Four – South Africa had crawled to 72/2 in as many overs – and the hosts were eager to make a kill of it on Day Five.
Ravichandran Ashwin claimed 5-61 to finish with 31 wickets which also earned the off-spinner the man-of-the-series award.
To complete as the number-one ranked Test side at the yearly cut-off date, South Africa will need to, a minimum of, draw the series with England. Partial because the 2nd Test match in Bengaluru was washed away due to heavy rain.
# South Africa defeat is their second biggest in terms of runs behind the 530-run defeat to Australia at Melbourne in February 1911.
Indian test cricket team members pose with the Freedom Trophy after India won their third Test match against South Africa on the fifth day of the fourth test match in New Delhi, India, yesterday.
Critics attributed India’s wins in Mohali and Nagpur mainly to the nature of the pitches. “With Ravindra Jadeja at No. 7 and Wriddhiman Saha at No. 8, I think India has got a great line-up now”. They have risen to second in the ICC rankings, and when they resume playing Test cricket in June 2016, it will be very interesting to see whether Kohli’s team can pick themselves up from where they’ve signed off. May be the South African batsmen lacked that skill and talent to play under sub-continent conditions.
However, the real blow was dealt by Ashwin, who ended the gritty innings of AB de Villiers in the 140th over. After being walloped in India, South Africa’s grit in the final Test will go a long way in giving them a confidence boost.
Amla admitted that had the target been less than 481, they would have gone for it. At one stage, Jadeja bowled 12 consecutive maidens before he finally got rid of du Plessis. Temba Bavuma (34 from 117) and Hashim Amla then combined for more than 38 overs and solidly defended the spinners with soft hands. While Ashwin removed De Villiers, Yadav once again came up with a deadly delivery in the next over to break Kyle Abbott’s stumps.
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The Proteas, courtesy AB de Villiers’ 43 off 297 balls, looked like pulling off an improbable draw from the jaws of defeat before the Indian bowling came to life in the final session courtesy pacer Umesh Yadav’s fiery spell and Ravichandran Ashwin ending the stodgy De Villiers’ near six- hour battle. Du Plessis was probably playing for the turn and the ball thudded into his pads, leaving the umpire without much doubt before he gave it out, lbw. Amla’s almost five-hour stay at the wicket yielded just 25 runs off 244 balls, the slowest in Tests by a batsman who has played 200 balls or more.
