The Whole Team Responded Beautifully in Crunch Situations: Faf du Plessis

It was a sensational opening Test between India and South Africa as the hosts eventually won the match by 72 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. It was a brilliant piece of fast bowling by both the teams, but in the end, the first innings of South Africa proved to be the turning point as the Indian bowlers surrendered the advantage on the opening day of the Test.

Riding on a fluent half-century by AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis and useful contribution by Quinton de Kock South Africa posted a competitive total of 286 in their 1^st essay. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the wrecker in chief for the visitors finishing with a four-wicket haul. The visitors were wrecked early and courtesy sensational piece of fast bowling by the hosts India were reduced to 92/7.

From there on it was a brilliant counter-attacking innings by all-rounder Hardik Pandya which propelled the visitors to a respectable total. Hardik attacked the South African bowlers with disdain and struck some big shots on a consistent basis. Bhuvneshwar Kumar also gave him ample support and made sure India crossed the 200 mark.

South Africa went into the 2^nd innings with a sizeable lead of 77 runs. South Africa ended the 2^nd day’s play on 65 and the 3^rd day’s play was washed out due to rain. The most eventful day of the match turned out to be today as in all 18 wickets fell in the 4^th day’s play. A sensational courtesy piece of fast bowling by the Indian bowlers, the South African bowlers, were restricted to 130.

All the fast bowlers were successful and eventually, India were set a target of 207 runs. South African speedster Vernon Philander was the most successful bowler for the Proteas in the 2^nd essay finishing with six wickets as India were skittled out for a meager 135 runs in the 2^nd essay thus handing India a comfortable victory by 72 runs.

Here is what skipper Faf du Plessis said at the post-match presentation

“Every single time when we needed to stand up through tough periods, we responded beautifully. Didn’t plan to be 12/3, but we responded. Even today, after India got off to a decent start, we stuck to our plans and put great pressure on their batters. The first morning, we expected it to move around for the first hour. That total we felt was just around par. We felt 270 was going to be par. Even in the second innings, from 90/7, AB played a great knock, he took some risks. Plan was to get 200 runs, to get a lead of 350 and to have a crack at them tonight. But we were surprised how much it was doing this morning. When we came in today, the pitch was green again, almost like the day 1 pitch. It was tough, they bowled really well. I think it was a fantastic cricket wicket. There was a good challenge between bat and ball. Really important in a three-match series to put the opposition under pressure. If we had four seamers here today, Dale would have been a handful. Thoughts with him. Feel sorry for the guy. He’s trained so hard and he’s injured again. Thanks to the crowd, been a great crowd.”

Here’s the Newsfeed: 

South Africa Vs India: We need to rectify mistakes – Virat Kohli

SA vs IND 2018: Vernon Philander’s Six fer Skittles Out India for 135