History! India beat South Africa in first Test
Johannesburg, Dec 18 (IANS) Bubbly pacer Sreesanth captured eight wickets as India Monday etched a historic, first-ever win over South Africa in Test cricket, the 123-run verdict coming with one-and-half days to spare in the first match here.
South Africa, chasing 402 runs to win and overnight 163 for five, were all out for 278 in their second innings as India took a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series at the Wanderers.
India had scored 249 and 236 on way to their maiden win in their 10th Test on South African soil. The home side had made 84 in their first innings.
Ashwell Prince, who was unbeaten 54 overnight, ended up being the top scorer with 97 (327 minutes, 11x4s) while Shaun Pollock made a defiant 40 (67 minutes, 6x4s, 1x6).
The victory for Rahul Dravid's team is all the more sweet as India had lost the one-day international series 0-4 before this Test.
Sreesanth did the star turn for India as the young pacer bagged his career's maiden five wickets in the first innings and three in the second to finish with eight for 99 to be adjudged the Man of the Match.
Left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan and leg-spinner Anil Kumble took three wickets apiece in the second innings.
Besides, V.V.S. Laxman (28 and 73 runs) and Sourav Ganguly (51 and 25) and Zaheer (five wickets in match) were the other prominent performers in the five-day match that ended before lunch break on the fourth and penultimate day.
India have now played 10 Tests in South Africa, won one and lost four. In all, the two countries have played 17 Tests, with India winning four and South Africa seven while six were drawn.
South Africa started at their overnight 163 for five wickets with Prince and Mark Boucher batting on 54 and 23 respectively.
The two defied the Indian attack for 16.2 overs before Boucher became the first batsman to be out without adding a run to his overnight score. Zaheer had him leg before the wicket after the wicketkeeper had batted for 80 minutes in all, hitting three boundaries.
Prince and Boucher added 44 crucial runs for the sixth wicket.
Then Shaun Pollock and Prince raised 67 for the seventh wicket to further frustrate the Indians. Pollock played his shots while Prince was a bit more defensive.
Finally, it took a beauty from Kumble to get rid of Pollock, who batted for 67 minutes and smashed six boundaries and one six.
Soon after that Kumble also accounted for Andre Nel (6) and then Prince, before Zaheer returned to have Makhaya Ntini caught by Virender Sehwag to signal a famous win and start prolonged celebrations.
India's catching and ground fielding was top class in this match, as was the batting and bowling.
This was the 16th Test under coach Greg Chappell and India have won seven of them - a good record by any standard.
Chappell also deserved praise for the win as he has been under fire for India's defeats in one-dayers, but hardly anyone paid attention to the team's Test record under his tenure.
The second Test will start Durban Dec 26.
SCOREBOARD
1st Test, Day IV, India vs. South Africa, the Wanderers, Johannesburg, Dec 18
India (1st innings): 249 all out in 79.5 overs
South Africa (1st innings): 84 all out in 25.1 overs
India (2nd innings): 236 all out in 64.4 overs
South Africa (2nd innings, overnight 163/5):
Herschelle Gibbs c Tendulkar b Khan 0
Graeme Smith c Sehwag b Sreesanth 10
Hashim Amla c Dhoni b Sreesanth 17
Jacques Kallis c Ganguly b Sreesanth 27
Ashwell Prince b Kumble 97
A.B de Villiers run out (Khan) 17
Mark Boucher lbw Khan 23
Shaun Pollock b Kumble 40
Andre Nel lbw b Kumble 6
Dale Steyn not out 6
Makhaya Ntini c Sehwag b Khan 8
Extras: (lb 8, nb 19) 27
Total: (all out in 86.5 overs) 278
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Gibbs, 0.4 overs), 2-22 (Smith, 7.6), 3-34 (Amla, 11.6), 4-84 (Kallis, 29.6), 5-120 (de Villiers, 44.1), 6-164 (Boucher, 60.3), 7-231 (Pollock, 74.3), 8-245 (Nel, 78.3), 9-264 (Prince, 80.1)
Bowling:
Zaheer Khan 22.5-5-79-3
Sreesanth 25-8-59-3 (5nb)
Vikram Raj Vir Singh 18-4-67-0 (8nb)
Sourav Ganguly 1-0-11-0 (2nb)
Anil Kumble 20-4-54-3
Result: India won by 123 runs
Man of the Match: Sreesanth
Umpires: Mark Benson (England) and Daryl Harper (Australia)
Third umpire: Karl Hurter (South Africa)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)
:SugarwareZ-191:
Johannesburg, Dec 18 (IANS) Bubbly pacer Sreesanth captured eight wickets as India Monday etched a historic, first-ever win over South Africa in Test cricket, the 123-run verdict coming with one-and-half days to spare in the first match here.
South Africa, chasing 402 runs to win and overnight 163 for five, were all out for 278 in their second innings as India took a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series at the Wanderers.
India had scored 249 and 236 on way to their maiden win in their 10th Test on South African soil. The home side had made 84 in their first innings.
Ashwell Prince, who was unbeaten 54 overnight, ended up being the top scorer with 97 (327 minutes, 11x4s) while Shaun Pollock made a defiant 40 (67 minutes, 6x4s, 1x6).
The victory for Rahul Dravid's team is all the more sweet as India had lost the one-day international series 0-4 before this Test.
Sreesanth did the star turn for India as the young pacer bagged his career's maiden five wickets in the first innings and three in the second to finish with eight for 99 to be adjudged the Man of the Match.
Left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan and leg-spinner Anil Kumble took three wickets apiece in the second innings.
Besides, V.V.S. Laxman (28 and 73 runs) and Sourav Ganguly (51 and 25) and Zaheer (five wickets in match) were the other prominent performers in the five-day match that ended before lunch break on the fourth and penultimate day.
India have now played 10 Tests in South Africa, won one and lost four. In all, the two countries have played 17 Tests, with India winning four and South Africa seven while six were drawn.
South Africa started at their overnight 163 for five wickets with Prince and Mark Boucher batting on 54 and 23 respectively.
The two defied the Indian attack for 16.2 overs before Boucher became the first batsman to be out without adding a run to his overnight score. Zaheer had him leg before the wicket after the wicketkeeper had batted for 80 minutes in all, hitting three boundaries.
Prince and Boucher added 44 crucial runs for the sixth wicket.
Then Shaun Pollock and Prince raised 67 for the seventh wicket to further frustrate the Indians. Pollock played his shots while Prince was a bit more defensive.
Finally, it took a beauty from Kumble to get rid of Pollock, who batted for 67 minutes and smashed six boundaries and one six.
Soon after that Kumble also accounted for Andre Nel (6) and then Prince, before Zaheer returned to have Makhaya Ntini caught by Virender Sehwag to signal a famous win and start prolonged celebrations.
India's catching and ground fielding was top class in this match, as was the batting and bowling.
This was the 16th Test under coach Greg Chappell and India have won seven of them - a good record by any standard.
Chappell also deserved praise for the win as he has been under fire for India's defeats in one-dayers, but hardly anyone paid attention to the team's Test record under his tenure.
The second Test will start Durban Dec 26.
SCOREBOARD
1st Test, Day IV, India vs. South Africa, the Wanderers, Johannesburg, Dec 18
India (1st innings): 249 all out in 79.5 overs
South Africa (1st innings): 84 all out in 25.1 overs
India (2nd innings): 236 all out in 64.4 overs
South Africa (2nd innings, overnight 163/5):
Herschelle Gibbs c Tendulkar b Khan 0
Graeme Smith c Sehwag b Sreesanth 10
Hashim Amla c Dhoni b Sreesanth 17
Jacques Kallis c Ganguly b Sreesanth 27
Ashwell Prince b Kumble 97
A.B de Villiers run out (Khan) 17
Mark Boucher lbw Khan 23
Shaun Pollock b Kumble 40
Andre Nel lbw b Kumble 6
Dale Steyn not out 6
Makhaya Ntini c Sehwag b Khan 8
Extras: (lb 8, nb 19) 27
Total: (all out in 86.5 overs) 278
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Gibbs, 0.4 overs), 2-22 (Smith, 7.6), 3-34 (Amla, 11.6), 4-84 (Kallis, 29.6), 5-120 (de Villiers, 44.1), 6-164 (Boucher, 60.3), 7-231 (Pollock, 74.3), 8-245 (Nel, 78.3), 9-264 (Prince, 80.1)
Bowling:
Zaheer Khan 22.5-5-79-3
Sreesanth 25-8-59-3 (5nb)
Vikram Raj Vir Singh 18-4-67-0 (8nb)
Sourav Ganguly 1-0-11-0 (2nb)
Anil Kumble 20-4-54-3
Result: India won by 123 runs
Man of the Match: Sreesanth
Umpires: Mark Benson (England) and Daryl Harper (Australia)
Third umpire: Karl Hurter (South Africa)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)
:SugarwareZ-191: