Player of the Match
Player of the Match
1941dThe Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy

India break blockathon to win series 3-0

India broke past stubborn stonewalling from an AB de Villiers-led South African line-up to wrap up a 337-run win in the Delhi Test and take the series 3-0

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

AM Rahane
AM Rahane
127(215) 11x4 - 4x6
Control %92%
  • Productive Shot
  • on drive
  • 26 runs
  • 2x4 - 2x6
0 5 22 9 25 15 30 20
AM Rahane
AM Rahane
100(206) 8x4 - 3x6
Control %92%
  • Productive Shot
  • on drive
  • 26 runs
  • 2x4 - 1x6
6 0 9 15 21 4 24 21

Best performances - Bowlers

RA Jadeja
RA Jadeja
O12
M2
R30
W5
Eco2.50
RHB
OFFLEG
2W3W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
KJ Abbott
KJ Abbott
O24.5
M7
R40
W5
Eco1.61
RHB
OFFLEG
1W
3W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
1W

Scorecard Summary

INDIA 334(117.5 OVERS)
1ST INNINGS

SOUTH AFRICA 121(49.3 OVERS)
1ST INNINGS

INDIA 267/5d(100.1 OVERS)
2ND INNINGS

SOUTH AFRICA 143(143.1 OVERS)
2ND INNINGS

Scorer: Thilak Gowda | Commentator: George Binoy

3.25 pm And with that Virat Kohli goes up to receive the Freedom Trophy. India win 3-0, and are now ranked the no. 2 Test side in the world. His team-mates join him and it's party time.

I don't have very much more to add. Well played India, thoroughly the better team in this Test series. Well played South Africa, they've faced some tough conditions and been gracious about it.

Thank you for all your emails, today, over the course of this Test and over the course of this series. On behalf of the scorers and all the other commentators who have brought you the T20s, the ODIs and the Tests, thank you for reading. Have a good evening.

3.15 Here's the post-match and series presentation ...

Hashim Amla: "We knew we had to bat long and hard, we tried our exceptional best, AB had a fantastic effort ... You got to do what is best for the team, it is easy to go out there and get some runs, but we tried to take it as deep as possible, get something from this game , unfortunately we were outplayed by India throughout the whole series, they batted and bowled better than us. Winning the T20s and the ODIs was brilliant ... It was a tough series for our batters, we didn't manage to get enough runs ... credit to our seamers on these pitches, just unfortunate we couldnt get the runs to back them up."

Man of the match is the twin centurion Ajinkya Rahane: "Really enjoyed that, I would like to dedicate this to the people in Chennai who are suffering from the floods and the Indian army who is helping out, this one is for them ... Really happy for myself and my team. I always like to improve my game, my cricketing skills, believe in my process because the results will follow."

The man of the series is R Ashwin, for taking 31 wickets and scoring some runs too. Ashwin: "I think it is a great feeling, a fitting finale to a wonderful series, we were going for it, we fought really hard, they dug in really deep ... generally all these black soil wickets .. there's not much bounce .., massive support from Jadeja, he hits the stumps so often, amazing support from me, and let's not forget Umesh ..."

Here's Virat Kohli: All the wins were special, but this one because we had to work harder, the South African batsmen put their head down and played for the draw, always hard work. I just asked the bowlers to put their hands up and that's what happened after tea ... That really depends on how much energy the team is showing, standing on my own I can't do anything, all 11 guys deserve the credit ... we were surprised with how they were defending, their approach ... the bowlers did not lose patience .. they can be really proud of their effort today. We have bowlers who have the pace it is important to back them on any surface ... it is important to give them confidence at the right times and they have to respond as well. I just want to thank the crowd, it has been tremendous playing in front of a packed stadium. Thank you for your support."

3.10 pm I'll have the presentation for you as soon as it takes place.

Vignesh: "This has been one amazing test match right from the start. South Africa bowled well on Day 1, we saw tremendous batsmanship from Rahane and Ashwin, and some great bowling performance from Indians on Day 2, again momentum going back a little to SA credit to Morne who bowled tremendously well, it was back to Virat and Rahane who held Fort again and then came the Blockathon from the South Africans. But what was really good to see was how the Indian Bowlers never let up at any point in time and finally game finishing on Day 5 on final session. Brilliant Ad to test cricket. #WellDoneEveryBody " Vignesh: "What a game!!!!!. Test cricket at its best. Take a bow ABD, Amla and indian bowlers who kept plugging in despite tough situations. Biggest gain of this match is Umesh Yadav. Awesome experience to see an indian bowler at its reverse swinging best after zak. Congrats. Ultimate winner is Test Cricket"

2.57 pm India have wrapped up the series 3-0. They had to work incredibly hard for this 337-victory, in the face of some stupendous resistance from South Africa. Ashwin, Jadeja, Umesh and Ishan have toiled manfully, never letting the intensity drop. South Africa lost five wickets in 31 balls after tea, after their first five wickets lasted 138.4 overs.

Kuldeep: "And what a score in the end - 143/10 in 143.1 (143.10) overs!!!!!"

Sooryanarayanan: "In India's last six test series wins, Ashwin has been India's leading wicket-taker in all of them. What a match-winner he has proved to be."

PitchPerfect: "Superb Test Cricket! Runs, wickets, spin, reverse swing, defense and above all final-session Result! "

Shikhar Dhawan (the real one) to Star Sports: "We had to work really hard and our bowlers did a great job. they batted very well but we kept our discipline, tremendous and amazing. When they were playing well it felt like maybe a draw but we knew that one or two wickets would create a low of pressure ... amazing reverse swing from Umesh. Lovely to see ... Ashwin and Jadeja have been tremendous whole series, I would like to congratulate them."

jacq: "What inspirational captaincy from Kohli....right from selecting Umesh instead of Mishra, with inspirational bowling changes, batted well himself and declared at the right time...did not let intensity to drop when the going was tough....He takes India to 2nd rank in ICC test ranking...well done"

Navin: "First time in my life feeling a bit low for india winning a match.. AB & co deserved a draw atleast if not a win. Hats off to those 3 musketeers. Also bowing to our bowling unit, they are proving to be world class atleast in subcontinent pitches.. Cocktail of emotions."

Murali: "Now this is is a proper test wicket and proper test match! It was "bloody hard" for both bowlers and batsmen, with the main difference being a guy scoring 2 centuries where noone else came close."

143.1
W
Ashwin to Morkel, OUT, bowled him! Ashwin has taken the final wicket, fittingly, to complete a five-for! Huge celebrations break out in the middle and in the stumps. Morkel left the ball go outside off but it did not spin away, it went on with the arm from around the wicket and clipped off stump

M Morkel b Ashwin 2 (9m 6b 0x4 0x6) SR: 33.33

GirishKumar: "What an asset Umesh has proved to be! His raw pace and swing, combined with Ashwin's brilliance, has cleanup the Proteas!!"

END OF OVER:
143 | (wicket maiden) | SA: 143/9

  • Imran Tahir0 (1b)
  • Morne Morkel2 (5b)
  • Umesh Yadav21-16-9-3
  • Ravichandran Ashwin49-26-61-4
142.6
0
Yadav to Imran Tahir, no run, cuts the ball hard to point
142.5
W
Yadav to Piedt, OUT, what a sensational catch from Saha! He's been incredible behind the stumps on a tough pitch and this is the icing on his cake. Umesh hit the pitch short of a length and swerved the ball in at Piedt, who began to push at the ball before trying to pull his bat away. The ball followed him at around chest height and deflected off the face of the bat. Saha was almost going towards his left when he changed direction and leapt to his right, catching that ball with one hand in front of first slip.

DL Piedt c †Saha b Yadav 1 (13m 11b 0x4 0x6) SR: 9.09

142.4
0
Yadav to Piedt, no run, short of a length outside off, straightens off the pitch, Piedt stays back and prods and is beaten
142.3
0
Yadav to Piedt, no run, full and reversing in, Piedt moves forward and across and blocks
142.2
0
Yadav to Piedt, no run, another full and fast reverse-swinging ball, Piedt is good enough to defend it

India's biggest

337

Margin of victory for India, their largest in terms of runs in Tests beating their 320-run win against Australia in Mohali in 2008.

Duminy's worst

10.62

Duminy's average in Tests in India, which is his lowest in any country (Min. 2 inns). He doesn't average less than 20 in any other country.

Maiden, Maiden, Maiden

17

No. of consecutive maiden overs by Jadeja in this inns; missed breaking Bapu Nadkarni's record of 21 consecutive maidens vs Eng, Chennai, 1963-64..

Block, block, block

49

SA's score after 50 overs, the lowest by any team after 50 overs of a Test inngs since 2002. The previous lowest was 68, also by SA, v WI in 2005

India's best vs South Africa

481

Target set by India in this Test is the highest they have ever set against SA and the fifth highest against all teams.

In Elite Club

4

No. of Indians who scored 100s in each inns of a Test, before Rahane - Hazare, Gavaskar, Dravid and Kohli. Rahane only the 9th overall batting at No.5 or lower.

Twin 75s

2

No. of Indians scoring 75 or more in each inns of a Test at No.5 or lower, before Rahane - Pataudi 75 & 85 v Aus, MCG 1967 and Laxman 76 & 124* v NZ, Napier 2009.

A Long wait

115

Number of century-less partnerships in the series before the first by Rahane and Kohli in this innings.