India four wickets away from victory

India have beaten South Africa in a Test series for the first time in 11 years, winning by 124 runs in Nagpur thanks to Ravichandran Ashwin’s 12-wicket haul, to take a 2-0 lead with one match to play.

The off-spinner claimed seven second innings wickets while leg-spinner Amit Mishra grabbed the remaining three as South Africa, chasing 310 to stay alive in the contest, folded for 185.

Ravichandran Ashwin bagged his 14th five-wicket haul while Ravindra Jadeja backed up from his 12 wickets in the first two Tests with another four scalps.

Ashwin mixed his deliveries well and has taken 3-35 in the test as India pushes for a series-clinching win in the four-match series, which it leads 1-0. This was also the first away series loss that South Africa has suffered since 2007.

On Wednesday, India reduced South Africa to 11/2 after getting bowled out for 215 runs in their first innings on the first day of the third Test at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium. The fourth Test starts on December 3.

Ashwins second innings victims included three left-handers – the opening duo of Dean Elgar, Stiaan van Zyl and Jean-Paul Duminy – apart from the prize wicket of AB de Villiers, the visitors most successful batsman on this visit.

South Africa’s lowest-ever score in Test cricket is 30. Opener Shikhar Dhawan top scored with 39 while Cheteshwar Pujara contributed 31 to the kitty.

Kohli said his team were not bothered by the criticism over the Nagpur wicket, adding it was more important to perform well in hard conditions.

Comparing Ashwin with his fellow spinners, Manjrekar said the former had the edge because of flight and guile in his bowling. “So credit to India, they bowled well and unfortunately we ended up on the wrong side of this game”, Amla said on Friday. The South African pair put together a fifth-wicket partnership of 72, and as long as they were at the crease, the Proteas had an outside chance of pulling off a remarkable win. We tried our best and the idea is, when you win or lose, you try to do that as honourably as possible.

Targets of over 300 runs have been chased successfully just once on Indian soil – by the home team which made 4-387 to defeat England in Chennai in 2008. The home team’s bowlers were kept at bay by the stone- walling tactics of Amla and Du Plessis resulting in the post- lunch hour of play producing a measly 21 runs in 19 overs.