New Delhi, Dec 07: R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were down South Africa’s monumental resistance to pull off a brilliant 337 run victory at Feroz Shah Kotla wicket on Monday. India won the Test series 3-0 following wins at Mohali and Nagpur. The Bangalore match was washed out.
With this series win, India have now climbed to spots to No. 2 in the ICC Test rankings. India had lost their No. 1 ranking in England four years ago. South Africa remain No. 1 in spite of this massive series loss in India.
Chasing a massive 481 for an improbable victory, South Africa started the fifth day on 72 for two wickets. Left-arm spinner Jadeja finally earned the breakthrough in the fifth over after the hosts had taken the new ball, spinning one past Amla’s tentative bat to hit the top of the off-stump before embarking on a celebratory run. But the visitors kept blocking everything to be 94-3 at lunch on the final day.
Ashwin claimed 5/61 for a seven-wicket haul in the match. Jadeja also finished with seven scalps while Yadav took five wickets.
Unlike the Mohali and Nagpur Tests — the Bengaluru match in between was drawn after four days were washed out — where the Proteas caved in within three days, the visiting batsmen made India work hard by their single-minded approach to defending.
De Villiers’ marathon knock, just short of six hours, had raised hopes of pulling South Africa to a face-saving draw. He faced 297 balls, hitting six fours. His third wicket partnership with skipper Hashim Amla — spanning 42.1 overs — had frustrated India before the latter’s dismissal in the morning.
