South Africa defeat India by 72 runs in Capetown test; go 1-0 up in 3 match series
India’s quest to win first test series in South Africa in over 25 years followed same script as their earlier visits. Led by a good showing by the bowling unit; team India was let down by lack of big scores by the batsmen. South Africa defeated India by 72 runs in the first match of the three-Test series despite losing Steyn to injury in the second inning. The match ended inside four days even with day 3 being completely lost due to rain. South Africa scored 286 runs in the first innings and 130 runs in the second innings. Team India scored 209 runs in the first innings and 135 runs in the second innings. With this victory, South Africa has taken a 1-0 lead. Vernon Philander was chosen as the man of the match for this match for his 6 wicket haul in the second innings. He claimed nine wickets in this match.
208 run target proves to be too big for Team India
Like the first innings the openers failed to lay a solid foundation for the team in its chase of 208 runs. Murali Vijay was dismissed by Philander for 13 runs. Dhawan scored 16 runs and was dismissed by Morne Morkel. Shortly after Cheteshwar Pujara scored 4 runs and became another victim of Morkel. Rohit Sharma who was drafted in for Ajinkya Rahane tried to do repair control alongwith captain Virat Kohli. The duo added 32 runs before an inswinger from Philander trapped Kohli in front of the stumps. Wicketkeeper Saha and Sharma too followed their skipper to the pavilion and the team lost 7 wickets before tea dashing any hopes of a win.
Indian bowlers shine in South Africa
On the fourth day of the match Mohammed Shami bagged 3 big wickets He gave 28 runs in 12 overs and also got 3 maiden overs. At the same time, fast bowler Jaspreet Bumrah, who made his debut in Test cricket, got 3 wickets giving away 39 runs in 11.2 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar also picked up two wickets.
