India were fielded first and dominated play on the opening day after reducing the opposition to 247/6 at stumps. Although there were many starts in South Africa’s innings, no one could capitalize on them. Kuldeep Yadav ended the day with three wickets to his name.
However, Senuran Muthusamy (109 off 206) and Marco Jansen (93 off 91) took their team to 489 in what was a strong revival on the second day. India ended the day unbeaten at 9/0 in 6.1 overs, with the day clearly dominated by the Bavuma-led unit.
No one, barring Yashasvi Jaiswal (58) and Washington Sundar (48), could contribute much as Marco Jansen’s six-wicket haul took India to 201. South Africa did not force the follow-on and instead struck again.
As of the fourth day at 26/0, the Proteas declared themselves at 260/5 after batting for most of the fourth day. Ravindra Jadeja picked up four of the five wickets and fell. India, who had been given a target of 549 runs, were already trailing by two at the end of the match.
Simon Harmer took five more wickets on the final day and bowled India out for 140 runs. The 408-run loss became India’s biggest in their Test history in terms of runs. The last time India were defeated in two Test series at home for two consecutive years was more than 40 years ago.
Who said what?
Rishabh Pant (losing captain)
It’s little disappointing. As a team we have to get better. We have to give the opposition credit. We have to take what we have learned and hold on to it as a team. They dominated the series, but at the same time you can’t take the honor for granted. We had to be clear in our mentality. In the future we must learn from it and become better. They played better cricket, cricket requires you to capitalize as a team. And we didn’t do that and it cost us the entire series. The positive will be concentrated in our own plan and that is what we will take away from this series.
Marco Jansen (Player of the Match)
Winning any game is a great feeling and winning in India is special. It’s a team effort. We talked about holding on to our own things. If it works, it works. I have to give it credit Shuks (Conri Shukrad), he told me to go out there and play my game. I was nervous during the first test. Everyone works hard, we prepare as a team and on an individual basis. We see where we can improve and we do our best on the field.
Simon Harmer (Player of the Series)
Like I said during the last test, it’s been a long road. 10 years later, a completely different feeling. Will leave with many more wonderful memories of that time. It’s quite an effort to beat a very good Indian team. I was just watching our second innings, after 40 overs the ball became softer and easier. But there was an odd ball, the one Rishabh got. Nice to contribute, nice to get wickets and nice to get a fiver in India. I think in the second innings we knew they were going to bat for their lives, they put up a great fight. But we knew that if we put it in the right places, things would happen. Sharp catches from Markram in the slips and also from Jansen, which helps. When I bowled from that side, I felt it was a left-handed wicket. Temba asked me to change and great decision from him and happy to get the wickets. Kesh’s record speaks for itself, he deserves to be the number one spinner and I love playing the supporting role. If I get the chance, I like to play a supporting role. I didn’t hit well, Jasprit had my number. Another county stint at Essex, a few games with the Titans, that’s next.
Captain (retiring captain)
It’s huge. For me personally, I was out of the game for a few months due to an injury. It’s not every day you can come to India and walk away with a 2-0 series win. The special thing is that we have had dark days as a group and that is an honor for them. There is a big shift in our mindset when it comes to what we want to do. I think our preparation is something, guys go out there and contribute. Everyone can do it for their team on their day, that is the belief. As a team, we’re really in a good space. The way we performed here will boost our confidence even further. That is very important, everyone wants to know where he or she stands. Guys want to be the guy for their team. Everyone contributed. We don’t see large hundreds, but there are 4-5 people contributing. I could go on and on about my team, but yeah. Simon has experience playing here in India in 2015, he complements Keshav well. A little more trickery with the ball, it’s a struggle to get the ball out of their hands. Simon was the man for us this series.
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