Bittersweet taste to India’s series win over South Africa

India defeated South Africa by 337 runs in the fourth and final Test to win the series 3-0 here on Monday.

Paceman Umesh Yadav chipped in with three wickets as South Africa were bowled out for 143 soon after tea, after being set a massive target of 481.

The rest of the side, save for Dane Vilas who hung around for 50 balls, went down like the proverbial pack of cards as Ravi Ashwin claimed five wickets, with the tourists all out for 143 – made from 143.1 overs.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja 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. The picture was quite symbolic of the Test series as South Africa have been undone by a heavy dose of spin. Partial because the 2nd Test match in Bengaluru was washed away due to heavy rain.

It though was not the end of South Africa’s stonewalling tactics.

South Africa still lost in the end, but it was the fact that they finally played like the world’s number one ranked team that would have given South African fans some hope ahead of their series against India. They, however had forced India to snatch the win from them.

Yeah, absolutely. With 480, if you asked few of the guys here, if we could get 480, I don’t think many would have put their hands up.

Hashim Amla does not regret instructing South Africa to try and salvage a draw in the fourth Test as they fell short despite a dogged defensive display in Delhi.

But what are the gravest areas of concern for South Africa before they tackle England from Boxing Day – and who is actually in pretty decent nick?

The series win in Sri Lanka was a huge boost for Kohli’s captaincy and India’s bowling, along with their bounce-backability as the team was 0-1 down. “Having come close to that in the past, we felt that it was the best way to try and save the game for us”, he added.

Expressing his disappointment over the loss, the right-handed batsman admitted that the entire batting line-up failed to perform to their full potential, but urged his side to learn something from the defeat for the upcoming series. While Ashwin removed De Villiers, Yadav once again came up with a deadly delivery in the next over to break Kyle Abbott’s stumps.

The spinners couldn’t make the balls didn’t jump up in spite, and whatever turn there was on offer was negotiated because of the slowness of the surface. On tracks such as the ones in Mohali and Nagpur, even though they won, India could have done with another batsman.

But Kohli didn’t take his foot off the pedal for a single session, pushing his bowlers to attack at all times.

Faf du Plessis also batted in the same manner as he made 10 off 97 deliveries in two hours before being trapped leg-before wicket by Jadeja, who bowled 17 consecutive maiden overs in four spells. Amla’s almost five-hour stay at the wicket yielded just 25 runs off 244 balls, the slowest scoring rate in Tests by a batsman who has played 200 balls or more.