Nagpur - South Africa crashed to a first away series defeat in nine years as they lost the third Test against India by 124 runs, as the Proteas were bowled out for 185 on day three of the third Test against India in Nagpur, on Friday.
India take an unassailable 2-0 lead into the fourth and final Test in Delhi next Thursday.
After winning the toss on Wednesday, India decided to bat first and made 215 on a pitch best suited to the slow bowlers. In reply, South Africa were bundled out for 79, giving the hosts an imposing 136-run first innings lead. Though the Proteas were better with the ball in the second innings as they dismissed India for 173, it meant South Africa were set an unlikely 310 to win on a wearing pitch with three days to play.
Though Hashim Amla (39 runs from 167 balls) and Faf du Plessis (39 from 152 balls) provided resistance with a dogged partnership of 72 from 46.2 overs, once the pair were dismissed the Proteas were always heading for defeat.
Ravi Ashwin was the chief destroyer for India taking 5/32 in the first innings and career best innings figures of 7/66 in the second, as he made it near impossible for the Proteas to have any chance of securing a result from the match.
The pitch, however, played a major part in the Test match as it began to wear significantly on day one and negated the impact of the fast bowlers to a large extent. Also revealing of how difficult the pitch was to bat on, the top score of the match was 40 made by Indian opener Murali Vijay on day one of the Test.
Conditions aside, South Africa had their chances in the match as they had India six wickets down with under 130 runs on the board in each of their innings. And as bad as the pitch was for the batsmen, the South African batsman lacked application in their first innings and were often guilty of poor shot selection. The partnership of Amla and Du Plessis in the second innings showed resistance was possible.
The Proteas will head into the final Test hoping to salvage some pride in the series.
African News Agency