India sweep series with a second innings-victory

India required just two overs to complete a crushing victory by and innings and 202 runs against South Africa on the fourth morning of the third test at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi on Tuesday.

Debutant left-arm spinner Shabhaz Nadeem (6-1-18-2) claimed the final two wickets on his home ground to dismiss the tourists for 133 and conclude an 11th consecutive series win on home soil.

Theunis de Bruyn feathered an inside edge into the gloves of Wriddhiman Saha for his overnight 30 and last man Lungi Ngidi (0) slogged a delivery powerfully towards the non-striker, Anrich Nortje, who was unable to avoid the ball and provided a ricochet catch for the bowler.

Fast bowler Mohammed Shami was the pick of the bowlers with remarkable figures of 10-6-10-3.

It was only the third time South Africa had been whitewashed in a series of three or more tests since isolation and the first time by a team other than Australia.

TEAM's PERFORMANCE DETERIORATED

South African captain Faf du Plessis admitted that his team’s performances had deteriorated through the course of the series: “That’s been the frustrating part of the tour. There were some really positive signs during the first innings of the first test and hope of good things to come, but it went the other way,” Du Plessis said.

“With each test we played we made a few more mistakes, but you have to give credit to a very, very strong Indian team and congratulations to Virat and his team. It’s a remarkable team and it’s really tough to beat them at home. They were ruthless in every aspect of the game.

“They were better than us in the spin department, the fast bowling department, the batting and even the fielding so we were pretty much dominated for the whole test series. There were small moments where we felt like we were close to competing but the ruthlessness of their team makes them hard to overcome,” Du Plessis said.

“We spoke a lot and prepared a lot for spinning pitches but it’s been the opposite with plenty in them for the fast bowlers and the batsmen, too. They’ve been fantastic test match pitches and the Indian seamers were relentless in showing us how to bowl the right line and length,” Du Plessis continued. “We did it for half an hour here or 40 minutes there but they did it for a whole day, so well done to them.”

“It’s been a really tough tour for us but, within the hardships we have to make sure that we learn from it and put in the planning and do everything necessary to compete when we come back next time. This is the toughest tour on the circuit and the statistics prove that – 11 consecutive series wins,” Du Plessis said.

“I’m really proud of the whole team to be honest,” said Indian captain Virat Kohli. “Even when we travelled away from home, we competed in every game, we wanted to win and do the difficult things. It all starts from the mind. It's amazing to see the mindset of the team, it's been a brilliant series for us.

“To be the best side in the world, you need to be multi-dimensional. All facets of your team have to fire. Spin was always a strength, batting was never a problem for us. Fast bowling was very good and then young bowlers came in.

“The fielders started working hard as well, the catching has been brilliant. It's great to see when you operate in such a way. We believe we can win anywhere in the world. We can win anywhere, England, Australia, South Africa, good things are going to follow this,” Kohli said.

A sixth test century – and maiden double – for opener Rohit Sharma (212) and Ajinkya Rahane’s 11th century (115) saw India pile up 497-9 before the declaration at tea on day two. South Africa survived just over 104 overs in both innings as they were dismissed for 162 and 133.

Report Day 1
Report Day 2
Report Day 3

INDIA: Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shahbaz Nadeem, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami

SOUTH AFRICA: Dean Elgar, Quinton de Kock, Zubayr Hamza, Faf du Plessis (capt), Temba Bavuma, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), George Linde, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi