Indian romance with Wanderers continues, signs off the series with a win

India continued its glorious run at the New Wanderers Stadium to beat South Africa by 63 runs in the last Test to sign off the series 1-2. It was just the third time India has won a Test in the Rainbow Nation, second time at this venue.

Winning away from home requires a lot of hard work and character and this Test saw everything on display. Indian batsmen survived hits, Elgar’s resistance and ‘other things’ , and obviously the tough pitch to outplay their opponents.

For the first time in a Test, Indian pacers picked up all 20 wickets, they had no option either as India were playing without spinners, as the visitors avoided the whitewash. Mohammed Shami picked up a fifer in the second innings as South Africa were bundled out for 177 while chasing 241 runs.

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On a pitch that looked really tough for the batsmen, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara scored half centuries each while Bhuvneshwar Kumar scored 30 as India scored 187 runs. Kagiso Rabada picked up 3 wickets while Morne Morkel, Andile Phehlukwayo and Vernon Philander picked up a couple of wickets each.

In reply, riding on 61 from Hashim Amla SA scored 194 to get a 7-run lead. Rabada scored 30 while Philander scored 35 for SA. Bhuvi picked up 3 wickets while Bumrah picked up 5.

After considering a lead of 7 runs, Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli scored 48 and 41 respectively while Bhuvi once again added 33 as Indian posted 247 to set a target of 241. Philander, Morkel and Rabada equally shared 9 wickets between them.

Chasing a target of 241 to whitewash the best ranked Test team, SA lost Markram for just 5 but Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla added 119 runs for the second wicket to take the game out of India’s hands. There was a noted controversy of pitch that had forced early stumps on day 3 but the game resumed on the 4^th day. Once Amla was dismissed it opened the gates for Indian bowlers. Brilliantly led by Shami, Indian picked up 7 wickets in the final session of the 4^th day to seal the game.