South Africa vs India 2018, 3rd Test - 5 Things which went right for India

When the third and final Test match of the Freedom Series started, it might have seemed like a dead rubber with South Africa 2-0 up. However, there was a lot to play for both teams.

India, who were pretty good in the first two Test matches, needed to show that they can deliver away from home, while South Africa would’ve wanted to continue their winning momentum and also close down the gap on the No. 1 Test ranking.

India won the toss and elected to bat first on a green pitch and on the back of the fifties from Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara helped them score 187. A good show from the fast bowlers then helped the visitors to bundle out South Africa for 194 conceding a slender 7-run lead.

The pitch was playing its tricks as there was a lot of assistance for the fast bowlers and it also started exploding from a good length. In the second innings, it got tougher to bat and India got to 247 thereby setting the hosts a tough target of 241 in the fourth innings.

With the pitch playing a lot of tricks with balls of a good length exploding and batsmen taking quite a few blows on the hand and the ribs, the umpires were concerned about the state of the pitch. Also, Dean Elgar coped a blow on the helmet which prompted the umpires to call off play late on day 3 (with about 17 minutes to go).

And when play resumed on day 4 with South Africa at 17/1, India were favourites to clinch a very good win. However, after overnight rain delayed the start of the fourth day’s play, the pitch had surprisingly eased out and the venomous nature wasn’t evident until late in the second session. At 124/1, things seemed a little flat for India, but an inspired spell from Bumrah and Ishant opened the floodgates and a collapse followed as South Africa were bowled out for 177.

This win helped India maintained an unbeaten record at Johannesburg. India fought superbly and eventually came out on top (winning by 63 runs) and ended the series 2-1.

All in all, Johannesburg produced another thrilling Test match between South Africa and India.

#5 Taking a few brave decisions

After the Centurion pitch played subcontinent-like, everyone expected the Wanderers pitch (in Johannesburg) to have a decent amount of grass covering. Also, it is one of the fastest pitches in the world. Hence, fast bowlers were going to be key for both sides.

Hence, both teams opted for a five-pronged pace attack leaving out their spinners. However, it was surprising to see India leave out a spinner. It was the first time they had fielded an XI without any spinner since January 2012 and it was the third time since 1990. But their decision to leave out the spinner was justified after they saw the pitch favouring the fast bowlers considerably.

It was a brave call to bat first on a green pitch under overcast conditions. Skipper Virat Kohli was criticised for his decision at the toss. But it was another call that was justified as the cracks started widening and the pitch started misbehaving pretty early in the game.

Also, with the pitch playing a lot of tricks on day 3, the umpires were pretty concerned. A few deliveries were just taking off and hitting the batsmen hard on the gloves. However, Kohli wanted to continue playing. Even after he got out, he was seen indicating to the batsmen (Rahane and Bhuvneshwar) to continue batting when the umpires converged to discuss the pitch. The Indian batsmen were gutsy in the second innings as they took blows on the body and battled it out.

All these calls were brave, and they went in India’s favour.

#4 Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s all-round show

When Bhuvneshwar Kumar was dropped from the Indian team for the second Test, everyone was amused at his exclusion. And in the third Test when he was included, most of them would’ve expected him to do well with the ball given the green nature of the pitch. And he did superbly too.

But it was his contribution with the bat that was almost invaluable. Even in the first Test, he showed grit and determination while he was batting. But in tough conditions on the first day, he scored 30 to drag India’s score from 144/7 to 187. And in the second innings, he once again showed why he can be relied upon lower down the order. When he walked in at 148/6 in the second innings, India needed someone to support Ajinkya Rahane (who was batting well). And the way he batted was superb. He made a gritty 33 and helped India cross the 225-mark.

With the ball, he was simply brilliant. The way he swung the ball was pure class. He troubled the South African batsmen and took 3/44. The way he set up AB de Villiers and eventually dismissed him in the first innings was exceptional. In the second innings again, he kept the runs down and maintained pressure from his end when South Africa were going well. He finished with 1/39 in the second innings.

#3 India’s fielding proves to be the difference

India’s fielding faced a lot of flak after they dropped quite a few catches in the first two Tests. And South Africa had easily out-fielded the visitors in the first two Tests.

However, in the third Test, not only India showed a lot of improvement, but out-fielded South Africa in this Test match. They took almost every chance that came their way. Their ground fielding was excellent as well, saving some invaluable runs. India’s slip catching (and overall catching as well) was also very good. Although only a few chances came their way, the hung onto them.

Parthiv Patel who was under fire after a poor show in the second Test had a very good Test match as well, especially behind the stumps. On a difficult pitch, where the ball was deviating a lot and also had variable bounce, Parthiv did very well with the gloves. He took some good catches especially when the ball was flying through.

While South Africa were sloppy and missed quite a few chances in the field, India took almost every chance that came their way.

India’s fielding behind the stumps was a big positive and it certainly helped them in this Test.

#2 Kohli, Pujara and Rahane show “intent” with the bat

There was one word that was doing rounds in Virat Kohli’s press conferences and that word was “intent”. The Indian skipper wanted his players (especially the batsmen) to come out and show intent. For him, intent didn’t necessarily mean being aggressive and looking to score all the time but to show some fight and determination.

Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara showed the way in the first innings with the bat. On a tough pitch, Kohli (scoring 54) was his usual self, driving exquisitely, respecting the good deliveries. On the other hand, Pujara was keen on surviving early in his innings (as he took 54 deliveries to get off the mark in the first innings) and then later cashing on.

In the second innings, the pitch became tougher to bat on, but the way Virat Kohli batted was sublime. The 41 he made was simply superb on this challenging pitch. Ajinkya Rahane who was left out of the side for the first two Tests was the other batsman who looked good. Rahane scored 48 as he counter-attacked brilliantly and took India’s total to 200. Also, credit to Murali Vijay battled it out in the second innings. Thus, his 127-ball knock in the second innings was also crucial.

The heart of this Indian batting line-up (No. 3, 4 and 5) showed how to display intent in this Test match.

#1 India’s fast bowlers

India’s bowlers had done very well in the first two Test matches as they took 20 wickets in both the Tests. But the South African pacers were much better as they never allowed India off the hook in the first two games.

However, in this Test, it was India’s pacers who out-bowled their counterparts. In the first innings, India bowled with great control and discipline. Even though they might have conceded a slender lead of 7 runs, the Indian bowlers looked much better. They hit the deck hard and extracted seam movement and extra bounce from the pitch. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/44), Jasprit Bumrah (5/54) and Ishant Sharma (1/33) were simply superb in the first essay.

In the second innings, India started off well with Shami getting the wicket of Markram. However, a gritty 119-run stand between Amla (52) and Dean Elgar (unbeaten 86) defied India as the pitch also eased out a bit. However, Bumrah and Ishant bowled brilliantly in tandem to keep the hosts in check even when the wickets weren’t falling.

Just before the tea break on the fourth day when things started to drift away, Ishant got rid of Amla and Bumrah removed AB de Villiers (for the third time in the series) to get India back in the game. Those two wickets opened the floodgates as the Proteas were bundled out for 177.

Shami, who was the least effective bowler in the first innings was fully charged up as post-tea on day 4 he ran through South Africa’s lower order. He eventually picked up his third five-wicket haul (5/28). Hence, overall it was the excellent (and collective) bowling performance that won India the game.