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South Africa vs India 2023-24 Cricket

'Ghar ke sher bahar dhair' - Fans react as South Africa demolish India by an innings and 32 runs at Centurion in Boxing Day Test

Dean Elgar's (185 off 287 balls) brilliant century and Marco Jansen's unbeaten 84 off 147 balls gave South Africa a 163-run lead on a difficult batting pitch.

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Mathew K
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SA vs IND 1st Test (Source: Twitter)

SA vs IND 1st Test (Source: Twitter)

A complete dominance from South Africa as they bamboozled India to claim a massive victory within three days of the Boxing Day Test. The hosts were reduced to a team of 10 with regular skipper Temba Bavuma sidelined due to injury, but still managed to win by an innings and 32 runs. The Proteas not only outclassed India but also made them look like amateurs at Centurion as they took a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

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Dean Elgar's (185 off 287 balls) brilliant century and Marco Jansen's unbeaten 84 off 147 balls gave South Africa a 163-run lead on a difficult batting pitch. They were already ahead in the game but the pacers did not choose to relax and instead wreaked havoc on India's second-innings batting. Kagiso Rabada drew first blood by dismissing Rohit Sharma for the second time in the match.

The Indian captain bagged an 8-ball duck and was soon followed by his opening partner Yashaswi Jaiswal. Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill then tried to play positively, but Marco Jansen made the breakthrough by dismissing the latter. The former Indian captain was keeping the scoreboard ticking at one end but wickets were falling at the other.

Kohli's lone fight went in vain as he ran out of partners

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Jansen claimed his second wicket in Shreyas Iyer. KL Rahul was expected to form a partnership with Kohli but could not repeat the heroics of the first innings. Rahul's wicket was almost the end of India's fight as it opened the gate for the lower middle order. There were no contributions from all-rounders Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur.

Kohli, meanwhile, notched up a brilliant half-century (76 off 82) but watched his team fall at the other end. It was only a matter of time before the Proteas pacers wiped out the Indian tailenders. A brilliant catch by Rabada finally sent Kohli back and the Indian innings was reduced to 131 runs. Nandre Burger, who took four wickets, was the wrecker-in-chief. Rabada claimed two wickets to complete a combined seven-wicket haul, while Jansen took three. 

Speaking after the match, India skipper Rohit said: "We were not good enough to win. Having been put into bat, KL batted well to get us that score but then we didn't exploit the conditions with the ball and then again didn't show up today with the bat. If we have to win Test matches, we have to come together collectively and we didn't do that. Guys have come here before, we know what to expect and everyone has their own plan. Our batters were challenged and we didn't adapt well. We didn't bat well in both innnings, that's why we stand here. Important for us to regroup, we go through these times as sportsmen and we need to be ready for the next Test now."

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Here's how fans reacted to India's loss in the first Test against South Africa:

India Virat Kohli featured South Africa