The Indian Cricket Team crushed South Africa by an innings and 137 runs on the fourth day of 2nd Test played at MCA Stadium, Pune on Sunday.
After enforcing the follow-on it was a perfect start for the Indians as Ishant Sharma dismissed Aiden Markram on the 2nd ball of innings. Dean Elgar played with positive intent but de Bryun continued to struggle. Umesh Yadav got the wicket of de Bryun with a stunning one-handed catch down the leg by Wriddhiman Saha. Dean Elgar looked confident with his stroke play and took on Indian bowlers. Another superb catch by Saha ended Faf du Plessis innings. Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Faf du Plessis and Dean Elgar in quick succession. Elgar and Faf du Plessis added 51 runs for the 3rd wicket. South Africa ended the first session at 74 for 4.
After the lunch break, Ravindra Jadeja castled Quinton de Kock to put South Africa under pressure at 79 for 5. Temba Bavuma played some lovely strokes trying to delay India’s win. Bavuma and Muthuswamy added 46 runs for the 6th wicket. Mohammed Shami got the wicket of Muthuswamy for 9. Like in the first innings, Vernon Philander and Keshav Maharaj frustrated the Indian bowling line up. South Africa went into tea break at 172 for 7.
In the third session, Philander and Maharaj continued to score runs. Umesh Yadav got the breakthrough for India as he got the wicket of Vernon Philander with a down leg catch by Saha. Philander and Maharaj added 56 runs for the 8th wicket. Umesh Yadav dismissed Kagiso Rabada for 4.
Ravindra Jadeja ended South Africa’s innings as he dismissed Keshav Maharaj for 22. India bowled out South Africa for 189. With this win, India have increased their tally to 200 points in the ICC Test Championships.
For his marathon 254*, the Indian captain Virat Kohli was awarded the man of match.
India 601 for 5 in 156.3 overs (Kohli 254*, Mayank Agarwal 108, Ravindra Jadeja 91, Rabada 3/93) beat South Africa 275 in 105.4 overs (Keshav Maharaj 72, Philander 44*, Faf du Plessis 64, Ravichandran Ashwin 4/69, Umesh Yadav 3/37, Shami 2/44) and 189 in 67.2 overs ( Dean Elgar 48, Bavuma 38, Philander 37, Umesh Yadav 3/22, Ravindra Jadeja 3/52) by an innings and 137 runs.
India takes an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. The 3rd and final Test match would be played at JSCA Stadium, Ranchi from 19th October. This was India’s 11th successive home Test series win which is a record.
