India misplaced the primary Take a look at to South Africa by an innings and 32 runs.© AFP
After being bowled out for simply 131 runs, India suffered a large defeat by innings and 32 runs towards South Africa on Day 3 of the primary Take a look at on the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday. The consequence marked India’s worst defeat in a Take a look at match on South African soil, surpassing their earlier low in December 2010 once they confronted an innings and 25-run loss on the identical venue. Trailing by 163 runs, India had been bowled out for 131 of their second innings on Day Three to go one down within the first of the two-match Take a look at sequence. Solely Virat Kohli managed a rating of 76, as 9 Indian batters failed to achieve double figures. In the meantime, Shubman Gill fought briefly earlier than departing for 26.
The seeds of India’s defeat had been sown on the primary day itself. Put into bat, the guests struggled to adapt and appeared ill-prepared to counter the difficult deliveries from the Proteas bowling assault. South African pacers Kagiso Rabada and Nandre Burger exploited the situations effectively and made the ball swing and transfer to bother the Indian batters on a demanding pitch.
India’s batting line-up was bundled out for 245 courtesy of KL Rahul’s resilient 137-ball 101 knock. Though Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer weathered the early storm, their contributions fell brief. The staff’s incapacity to deal with swing and bounce within the first innings was a major issue resulting in their embarrassing defeat.
Blame doesn’t lie solely with the batters; the Indian bowling assault did not capitalise on the situations, permitting the hosts to grab momentum on the second day. Whereas Mohammed Siraj secured an early breakthrough by dismissing Aiden Markram, a tactical error from captain Rohit Sharma in deploying Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur proved pricey. The duo had been unable to take advantage of the bouncy pitch because the South African batters performed them with ease. If Rohit Sharma had entrusted the ball to his premier pacers, Jasprit Bumrah (4/69) and Mohammed Siraj (2/91), the narrative might have taken a unique flip. Later, Bumrah was introduced into the assault and he despatched Tony de Zorzi and Keegan Petersen again to the pavilion within the area of two overs. Nevertheless, the injury was already achieved.
Finally, South Africa reached 408 of their first innings, with Dean Elgar’s 185 and David Bedingham’s 56 steering them to a commanding place.
As Staff India prepares for the second Take a look at at Newlands Cricket Floor in Cape City from January 3 to 7, classes from the strategic lapses and the batting vulnerability have to be addressed to mount a comeback within the sequence.
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