South Africa romped to a massive innings win over India in Centurion to take a 1-0 lead in the ongoing two-match series. The Proteas were class apart as they beat India by an innings and 32 runs.
Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar was full of praise for the South African pace attack, saying they ‘surpassed expectations’ in their second innings.
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“While I initially felt the South African team would’ve been unhappy after the 1st innings, their pace attack surpassed expectations and showcased remarkable skill in the second innings, in spite of the pitch becoming more favourable for batting as the match progressed,” Tendulkar posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Well played South Africa!While I initially felt the South African team would’ve been unhappy after the 1st innings, their pace attack surpassed expectations and showcased remarkable skill in the 2nd innings, in spite of the pitch becoming more favourable for batting as the…
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) December 28, 2023
“From whatever I watched, India’s shot selection left much to be desired,” he added.
He further wrote that only four batters seemed to bat comfortably on what was a challenging pitch for the batters.
“Throughout the Test, only a few batters, namely Elgar, Jansen, Bedingham, @imVkohli and @klrahul truly seemed at ease with the bat, navigating the conditions with technique and poise,” he said.
Fans were clearly unhappy with India’s abject show with the bat and one of them joked that he wanted Tendulkar to come out of retirement.
“Can you come out of retirement and play as opener???”
can you come out of retirement and play as opener ???— QuestionQuest (@deucesofclub) December 28, 2023
While another made sure that Virat Kohli got the credit he deserved. “Lone warrior Virat Kohli, sadly we again did not win the Test series vs South Africa in South Africa. All we can do is draw the Test series 1-1”, wrote the user.
Lone warrior Virat Kohli, sadly we again not win test series vs south africa in south africa. All we can do is to draw test series by 1-1— Kirkett (@bhaskar_sanu08) December 28, 2023
An Indian team fan pointed out that the side was missing some key players including the likes of Mohammed Shami and Rishabh Pant.
India missed Mohammed Shami and Rishabh Pant the most…— Praneet Samaiya (@praneetsamaiya) December 28, 2023
“Missing those days when Dhoni used to score centuries overseas to win Test matches for India,” read a comment.
Missing those days when Dhoni used to score centuries in overseas to win Test matches for India— Param|PCS ???????? (@FunMauji) December 28, 2023
India’s first Test against South Africa took place at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. Hosts South Africa won the toss and decided to bowl first. Things started quite roughly for India as the visitors kept losing wickets in quick intervals. KL Rahul had the best performance with 101 runs in 137 balls.
This helped India put together a total of 245. South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada was the star performer with the ball, taking a five-wicket haul including the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer among others.
The hosts continued to dominate as a 185-run knock from opener Dean Elgar guided them to 408 runs.
Marco Jansen and David Bedingham also contributed to the mammoth total, scoring half-centuries.
India struggled to make an impact in their second batting innings as well. Virat Kohli’s 76-run knock was the only positive as India folded for 131.
This time it was a duo of Nandre Burger and Marco Jansen who combined for seven wickets.
India will have a shot at redemption when they face South Africa at the Newlands Cricket Ground from January 3 in the second Test.
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