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South African bowler Vernon Philander (C) celebrates the dismissal of Indian batsman Ravichandran Ashwin (unseen) during the second day of the first Test cricket match between South Africa and India at Newlands cricket ground on January 6, 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa. / AFP PHOTO / GIANLUIGI GUERCIA
Even though the hosts registered a 72-run win in the third session, the writing was very much on the wall when the boys headed back to the dressing rooms for the tea break. With India needing 126 to win with just 3 wickets in the bag, going into the break, it was all about delaying the inevitable for the last three wickets.
R Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (unbeaten on 13) though refused to give in without a fight as they put on 49 runs for the 8th wicket – the highest partnership in the Indian innings. But Ashwin’s dismissal (37), caught by Quinton de Kock off Vernon Philander’s bowling, ended any hope the Indians garnered of stretching the game further in the third session. Mohammed Shami (4) and Jasprit Bumrah (0) did not trouble the scorers much.
The Newlands wicket was surely assisting the bowlers with its pace and movement, but for India to fold up for 135 in their second essay is no excuse. It shows their inability to hold fort the moment the ball starts to move around and rises above the knee length. In fact, Rohit Sharma’s dismissal as his hanging bat led to the ball onto the stumps was the perfect example of Indian batsmen’s inability to adapt to swing and movement.
After all, he had been dropped by Keshav Maharaj in the previous over and it was the perfect opportunity for him to silence critics who felt he should not have played ahead of Ajinkya Rahane.
It was a wicket that just helped those who pitched the ball in the right areas. In the end, the Proteas took a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series with the second Test starting at the SuperSport Park in Centurion – considered the fastest strip in the country – from Saturday.
Clearly, India’s ploy of strengthening the bowling line-up in an attempt to pick 20 wickets did not work as the batting did not have the solidarity to support their lion-hearted effort on the fourth morning when the bowlers picked up 8 wickets giving away just 65 runs to pick 8 wickets and derail the South African batting.
Chasing 208, the Indian openers – Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay – started positively, scoring at 4 runs per over before a snorter from Morne Morkel had Dhawan (16) jumping for cover, only for the ball to lob into the hands of substitute Chris Morris, the score read 30/1.
Vijay followed on the same scoreline as Vernon Philander bowled the perfect line outside off and got the ball to move just enough to kiss the edge of the bat and land in AB de Villiers’s hands in the slip cordon. With Vijay (13) gone, Virat Kohli joined Cheteshwar Pujara and the two looked like they wanted to play every ball on merit.
But Morkel had other plans and he sent back Pujara (4) with the one that straightened after pitching to take the edge and land straight into the hands of Quinton de Kock. Kohli now combined with Rohit and even though the two looked good, there was this one-off ball that would trouble them on and off. But Kohli’s gutsy approach saw them ticking the scoreboard over. But all that changed with Philander catching Kohli (28) plumb in front.
The ball pitched and held its line even as the previous few had gone away. Trying to play it across, Kohli missed it and it was one of those LBW decisions where the bowler did not even bother to look at the umpire. Kohli did review it, but unlike Vijay who got two reprieves with the DRS, the India skipper had to walk back, having wasted a review.
Rohit too went an over later when having got a life on 9, he failed to take advantage of the situation and dragged on one from Philander to leave the team reeling at 76/5. First innings hero Hardik Pandya (1) too failed to bother the scorers this time round and after Saha (8) was dismissed off the last ball before tea, it was all about batting against time for the Indian lower-order.
Earlier, the Indian bowlers started off excellently on the fourth morning after having lost the third day to rain. The score read 65/2 at the start with Hashim Amla and Kagiso Rabada at the crease. But the Indians did not give the hosts any chance to settle down as they wrapped up the innings in just 21.2 overs on the fourth morning. While Mohammed Shami was the pick of the bowlers and finished with figures of 3/28 from his 12, Jasprit Bumrah showed huge improvement from the first innings and picked 3/39 in the second essay.
His delivery to dismiss South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis shall be remembered for some time to come. It jumped and moved in towards the skipper to take the gloves and land straight in the hands of Saha, who finished with 10 catches in the game. AB de Villiers was the only batsman who showed some spirit as he fought on to hit a 50-ball 35 before he looked to go for quick runs and was caught in the deep by Bhuvneshwar off Bumrah’s bowling. Bhuvneshwar too bowled well to pick 2/33, even though he wasn’t as impressive as he was in the first innings.
India vs South Africa 2018, 1st Test, Day 4 Highlights - As It HappenedFirst Published: January 9, 2018, 7:30 AM IST