Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander, South Africa Vs India, Cape Town,
Vernon Philander was at his best on day four with the red-ball. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Vernon Philander took a stunning six-wicket haul as South Africa bowled out India for just 135 to win the first Test by 72 runs.

Chasing a challenging 208 on a tough pitch, India’s batsmen failed to deliver for the second time in the game.  Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay had made a promising start to the innings, adding 30 runs for the first wicket. But South Africa clawed their way back into the game by dismissing both the openers and Cheteshwar Pujara for just 9 runs to leave India reeling at 39 for 3.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma then steadied the ship for a while by adding 22 runs before Vernon Philander dismissed both of them in quick succession to all but seal India’s fate. Kagiso Rabada then dismissed Hardik Pandya for just 1 to leave the visitors reeling at 77 for 6. Five runs later Wriddhiman Saha also departed before Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar revived India’s hopes for a while. The duo added 49 runs for the eighth wicket before Ashwin and Mohammed Shami departed in quick succession. On the very next ball after Shami’s departure, Philander dismissed Jasprit Bumrah to wrap up the Indian innings.

Earlier in the day, India’s pacers came up with a brilliant show to restrict the Proteas to just 130. Resuming the day on 65 for 2, South Africa suffered a major collapse to lose their last eight wickets for just 65. The hosts could add only one run before Hashim Amla was sent back by Mohammed Shami. Seven runs later, Shami Struck again, forcing Kagiso Rabada to edge one behind in the slip cordon.

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Jasprit Bumrah then joined the party, dismissing Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock before Shami removed Vernon Philander as South Africa found themselves reeling at 95 for 7. AB de Villiers and Keshav Maharaj then added 27 runs to stop the rot for a while before India took three wickets for 8 runs to end the innings.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the game:

 

https://twitter.com/HitmanCricket/status/950352825007013889?

 

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