This was his first Test series win on Indian soil, and he would now like to end the series on a high in his city Delhi.
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While Ravindra Jadeja went wicketless in his 25 overs, leg-spinner Amit Mishra picked up three scalps at crucial junctures.
Resuming on 32/2 overnight, the Proteas lost Dean Elgar and AB de Villiers for 18 and 9 respectively to Ravichandran Ashwin early on in the first session.
But then Amla and Du Plessis dug in, patiently blocking out Ashwin and Co on a pitch offering variable bounce and prodigious turn. “There have been a handful of fifties at least, in both teams, so it would be harsh to say that this South African team has struggled to score runs”.
The fairytale wasn’t to be, though, as Amla (39 off 167 balls, 2×4) received a terrific delivery from leg-spinner Mishra.
The home team’s bowlers were kept at bay by the stone- walling tactics of Amla and Du Plessis resulting in the post- lunch hour of play producing a measly 21 runs in 19 overs.
Ashwin’s offspin took 7-66 in the second innings, and 12-98 in the match, to once again lead the charge against a batting lineup that folded for a meagre 79 in the first innings.
It’s an extremely important day for South Africa. When asked whether they found the balance between attack and defence, Amla differed, “Firstly, in terms of not throwing our wickets away, I think we could have still ended up all out for 70 or 100 in the second innings”.
Amla, who has not been at his best so far in this series, gave a good account of himself. I think it is just a matter of mindset where people are just giving their opinions and they are free to do so. At the moment our team is similar to that, we’re breeding a few younger guys coming in.
“One consolation would be that the conditions we played in”. Sometimes that is just how the game goes.
“We tried to dig deep as long as we can. It was turning and bouncing whether it was the new ball or the old one”, said Amla. So that was probably the most hard (aspect).
“I thought the wicket slowed down a bit today, it was something that was expected because it was dry from underneath”.
“It was a challenging wicket, the batsmen applied better in Mohali”. It is the conditions that we get in India.
India’s Test series win against South Africa hasn’t taken that much of spotlight when compared to the pitches.
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He is also the fourth Indian bowler after Subhash Gupte, Harbhajan and Kumble to take six five-wicket hauls in a single year.
