South Africa was holding a strong chance to whitewash India 3-0 at the 4th day of the third test at Wanderers stadium in johannesburg. They were at strong position when Hashim amla and Dean elgar were comfortable against the Indian pacers. The duo added 119 runs of 304 balls and were all set for a remarkable win. But then only Hashim Amla got out to a leg stump half volley by Ishant Sharma by chipping it straight to short mid wicket where Hardik Pandya was stationed. As we all know he is one of the finest fielders in Indian 11 who will hardly going to drop that one and that too of Hashim amla who was looking in prime form. Consolation victory at Wanderers.
After the fall of second wicket, then came in ABD(Abrahim Benjamin De Villiers)the potent weapon in proteas arsenal, but he didn’t looked comfortable with the way he was batting except a freebie he got from Ishant sharma on the pads which he easily converted into a boundary. He scored first 6 runs of 3 balls, but after that he faced 9 dot balls. He was clearly not comfortable against Bumrah, who opened him up by some crackerjack of deliveries. For which he was rewarded as an off stump ball which De villiers tried to defend but such nature of the pitch was it jumped a touch extra and got a thick edge and it flew straight to Rahane at gully.
With this wicket India knew that this game is back in balance. South Africa again proved that why they are called chokers of world cricket as they lost 9 wickets for just 53, which is seen as a great collapse.
As the final session started, then came the most off coloured bowler to the party(Shami), he roared with a 5-fer to blow away the lower order. Ishant already got the Proteas captain(Du plessis) out with an inswinger which kept low as the pitch was still tricky, he could not read the line and saw his stumps rattled down. So,ishant and Bumrah already struck once each after the tea, before Shami took centrestage. Elgar was the lone bastman fighting out in the middle, no one supported him in the, otherwise the result would have been different. It was one of the finest Indian win overseas. One must have seen wins fashioned by Indian spinners, but domination by pace quartet is a rare commodity in Indian cricket. This was the first instance when Indian Pacers took all 20 wickets in a Test.
Hard fought series and what a way to end it. Victory at the Wanderers! #TeamIndia #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/i3oJchKmNe
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 27, 2018
Consolation victory at Wanderers sets it up for the limited overs format.
To add one more thing in India’s favour was the venue, as they have never lost a Test Match at Johannesburg. India played a draw in 1992, 1997, 2006 and managed to win in 2013 and now in 2018. That is the nature of Test cricket, always give you a second chance. At last, India will be overall convinced with their performance in this series, as they fought hard in the both test matches, but in the Final Test they proved why they are ranked no.1 in ICC Rankings, by snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
South Africa appeared delighted and rightly so, having beaten the top ranked Test team in a series at their den. It was a well-fought series, as the both sides played very competitive cricket. Both the sides had their moments, but Proteas obviously prevailed in most of the important passages. Consolation victory at Wanderers sets up nicely for the limited overs series between the two teams. There should be more entertainment, as the format changes. And ofcourse India will ride on the momentum they gained through the gruelling win in the last test.
