SA v India 2018: Debutant Ngidi's brilliance seals the series for South Africa

Another clinical performance by the host South Africa hands them the series against the No 1 ranked Test team. Virat Kohli & Co continues the age-old tradition of disappointing in challenging conditions. South Africa bowled out India for 151 runs after setting a record target of 287 runs.

South African posted 335 runs in the first dig after skipper Faf du Plessis opted to bat in an unlikely Centurion pitch. Young Aiden Markram and Hashim Amla starred for the Proteas as the former missed his century by six runs. India’s Ravichandran Ashwin bowled some tight lines to restrict the flow of runs before du Plessis played 63 run knock.

Ashwin’s four-wicket haul was well cushioned by Ishant Sharma, who replaced Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Sharma bagged three crucial wickets in the first innings.

In reply, Indian batsmen couldn’t get going as they lost wickets regularly. However, skipper Kohli played an outstanding knock of 153 runs to take his closer to South Africa’s total. Kohli played some delightful shots and broke a handful records on his way to scoring 153. Murali Vijay (48) and Ashwin (38) got starts but failed to convert it.

Young all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who scored a magnificent 93 in the first Test did a schoolboy error to get himself run out. He forgot to ground the bat as Vernon Philander directly hit the stumps from mid-on.

India finished at 307 after tall and lanky Morne Morkel claimed a four-for giving an important 28 leads to his team. He was well supported by the other bowlers bowling some good line and length.

De Villiers (80) and Dean Elgar (63) steadied the innings after Jasprit Bumrah struck twice early in South Africa’s second dig. It was Mohammad Shami, who gave the important breakthrough in the morning session of the fourth day. Du Plessis played another crucial knock of 48 runs to set the target at 287 before Shami and Bumrah rattled the South African innings.

Indian batsmen were all over the place as the Proteas seamers bulldozed the Indian innings. Although Rohit Sharma (47) and Shami (28) tried their best, it was the host who got the better of them.

Lungi Ngidi had a dream debut as he struck six times in the second innings as India lost their first Test series under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. He finished with a seven-wicket haul which will etched in his mind forever.

Brief Score: South Africa 335 & 258 beat India 307 & 151 by 135 runs

Here is the newsfeed:

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Series win. Well done men
Special performance from Lungi, well done bud ??#ProteasFire

— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) January 17, 2018