Ind vs SA 4th Test : India win fourth Test by 337 runs, win series 3-0
New Delhi : India ended South Africa’s second innings at 143 runs to win the fourth and final cricket Test by 337 runs and clinch the series 3-0 at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Monday.
This was the first series victory at home for Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his second consecutive one after the triumph in Sri Lanka in September.
India had won the first Test in Mohali and the third in Nagpur earlier in this series. With the series-win, India climbed to the second position in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was the most successful among the Indian bowlers in the second innings with figures of 5/61.
Fast bowler Umesh Yadav bagged three quick wickets just after tea to return figures of 3/9. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja returned with 2/26.
Jadeja bowled 17 consecutive maiden overs in the second innings. He fell four maiden overs short of the existing record of former India spinner Bapu Nadkarni when Faf du Plesis walloped him to the long-on boundary.
A.B. de Villiers was the highest scorer for the visitors with 43. De Villiers consumed 296 deliveries during his marathon innings.
Usually known and revered for his ability to repeatedly hit bowlers out of the park in limited-overs cricket, the 31-year-old showed he is one of best when it comes to defensive batting as well.
Although Hashim Amla, du Plessis and J.P. Duminy fell at the other end, the experienced right-hander continued to hold back the Indian bowlers at the other end.
His lengthy partnerships with Amla and du Plessis gave the Proteas genuine hopes of snatching a draw before they suffered a dramatic collapse shortly after the tea break.
Resuming at the overnight score of 72/2, South Africa batsmen de Villiers and Amla continued their efforts to deny a victory to the hosts.
Du Plessis took 53 deliveries to open his account. He is now third on the list of batsmen consuming most number of balls before opening their account.
England’s John Murray (80 deliveries) holds the record in this dubious category which came against Australia in the Ashes series of 1962.
England’s Stuart Broad is second on the list with 62 balls which came against New Zealand in 2013. Grant Flower of Zimbabwe is fourth with 51 balls. He achieved the feat in the year 2000 against New Zealand.
Jadeja knocked back Amla’s off-stump in the morning session before du Plesis joined de Villiers in the middle and the duo ensured that the visitors did not lose any more wickets till lunch.
Amla scored 25 runs off 244 deliveries. The elegant right-hander has not been at his best in this series. But he played a captain’s innings when his team needed it the most and it needed a superb delivery from Jadeja to dislodge him.
The Kotla pitch became slow as the Test match progressed and lost most of its bounce which allowed the visitors more time to read the deliveries and play their shots.
Kohli used eight bowlers, including himself, in an attempt to dislodge the Proteas batsmen.
Jadeja struck another big blow to South African hopes when he trapped du Plessis leg before almost immediately after lunch with one that kept straight after pitching.
Match Summary :
Virat Kohli: Well, all were pretty special. This one probably because we had to work a lot harder for it. For the bowlers, it was always hardwork. I told the bowlers that we are 2-0 up, but we wanted to win this 3-0. They did put their hands up. That really depends on how much energy the team shows. Standing alone, I can’t do anything. You always feed off each other’s energy and all the eleven guys deserve credit for that. We were surprised with the way they batted and it tested our patience. The bowlers can be really proud of their efforts today. I believe a bowler is as good as you think of them. We have fast bowlers and the way Umesh got it to reverse was great. Once you get momentum, be it any form of cricket, if you have a wicket in your bag, you will try to get more. I just want to thank the crowd, the stadium has been full everyday. It’s been great to have a packed stadium.
Ravichandran ashwin is the Man of the Series
Ajinkya Rahane is the Man of the Match
Hashim Amla: We knew we had to bat long and hard to try and save the game. We tried our best, AB tried really hard but unfortunately, we lost wickets towards the end. You have to do what’s the best for the team. It’s easy for you to get out and get runs for yourself, but it was important for us to dig in deep. Credit to India, they batted well and they bowled better than us. Winning the T20Is and ODIs was a great, we would have loved to finish the Test series as well but it wasn’t to be. Good learning that the youngsters will have and everyone else also. We’ll go back and now wait for England in two weeks time. Our seamers were exceptional, the bowling conditions were difficult. The way they handled themselves was great, but unfortunately the batters couldn’t do the job for most part of the series.
Match details:
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and Bruce Oxenford (Australia)
Television umpire: C.K. Nandan
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)
Reserve umpire: A.K. Chaudhary
The teams:
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma, Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla (captain), AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy, Dane Vilas (wicketkeeper), Dane Piedt, Kyle Abbott, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel.