SA vs IND, 1st Test: Proteas Pulverize India in Centurion, Visitors Succumb To Innings Defeat on Day 3

Centurion: India’s aspirations of conquering their “final frontier” in South Africa were shattered as the Men in Blue suffered a resounding defeat by an innings and 32 runs within three days in the Boxing Day Test.

Despite Virat Kohli’s resilient 76 in the third innings, the rest of the batting unit struggled against a formidable South African pace attack, led by Kagiso Rabada and debutant Nandre Burger.

The SuperSport Park pitch seemed to favour the home team, with South African pacers dominating both innings. India’s bowling, heavily reliant on Bumrah and Siraj, lacked vigour as debutant Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur seemed toothless and leaked runs.

While KL Rahul’s century in the first innings was a positive note, the collective failure of the batting unit couldn’t be ignored. In contrast, Dean Elgar’s impressive 185 and Marco Jansen’s unbeaten 84 powered South Africa to a commanding 408 in the first innings.

India’s dismal performance extends their losing streak to five Tests in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia). Kohli remains the last India captain to secure a victory in a SENA Test.

Rohit’s men, which displayed a stark contrast to their recent World Cup performance, suffered a humbling defeat in his inaugural Test as captain in South Africa.

India’s historical struggle in South Africa continues, with no Test series win since 1992 and only four wins out of 24 Tests in the Rainbow Nation.