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That's all from us for now from this Test series. The white ball leg of the tour will kickstart at Paarl on the 19th, Wednseday. Do join us in our coverage for that. Until then, this is Bala and Shashwat Kumar signing off on behalf of the whole Sportskeeda team. Stay home, stay safe and enjoy the cricket coverage with Sportskeeda!
Well, then! India had a lot of hopes when they embarked on this African adventure. It was the final frontier for them, a place where they had never won a series. The setting looked perfect for on. India had the best bowling ever to tour this nation. The batting unit was strong, at least on the paper if not on recent performances. And to cap it all off, they were facing a South African side which wasn’t the best they have faced over the years.
It looked like the hopes were bearing fruit when Virat Kohli led the side to a comprehensive victory in the first Test. But everything went downhill from there. South Africa, who everyone judged as the underdogs for the series, refused to backdown, and matched their Asian rivals punch for punch, hook for hook.
Once they won the second Test at Johannesberg, it became evident that it wouldn’t be as easy as India had imagined. And they showed just why at Cape Town. It was indeed a hard-fought contest. After the first innings of the first Test in Centurion, we never saw a score in excess of 300 runs. Runs were hard to come by. The batters had to fight it out for every inch. And at the end of the day, the better batting side ended on the better side of the result.
So, plenty of positives for both sides at the end of the series. Some questions for India as well, especially from the batting front. Will it be the last of Pujara and Rahane that we see, at least for a while? Only time can tell. But for now, let's take a moment back and appreciate a good hard-fought series.
Dean Elgar collects the trophy and the squad joins him at the podium!
Keegan Petersen is the Player of the Match and the Series!
I don't know how I feel. It hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe I can tell in two hours or so. Happy, emotional, just grateful to have had the opportunity. I took every little positive I can from every innings and built on that. It's been a tough journey. Have had to stick to my guns and fight it out. It's been a long journey, can't really tell the whole story right now. It's not been easy even coming into Tests. Challenging wickets, challenging conditions. Have had to deal with what has been in front of me. We've always had to tough it out against a high-quality bowling attack, high-quality team. We just wanted to have the mindset to fight it out. Just spending time at the wicket is crucial. (It's) Evident, longer you bat, easier it gets. I enjoyed every moment of it.
Dean Elgar: Pretty elated. Proud of the group of players. I think it will sink in in a day or two, maybe this evening. Couldn't be prouder of the group. After the first loss, we had a great hope. Asked the players to respond in a better nature, better way. And they responded brilliantly. Challenging your players within the group, need character to stand up. The bowling unit, in the last two Tests, was brilliant. I threw down the challenge after the first game and the guys responded brilliantly. We've got a young, talented group. Every day in this environment, we're gaining experience. Unreal to see how a group that doesn't have the repertoire or names can gel together as one. Extremely proud of this group. If you want to operate at a high-performance level, we have to have tough chats. If guys don't like it, it's up to them to deal with. I've got old-school mentality with a new-school twist. Laid down challenges to senior players as well. Great to see them take it on board and deliver. Would like to think I gave us the best message for us to go out and perform. We have been hurting a little bit. It's something for us to feed off. If you have guys moving away, it's challenge to pull them in. I think as a unit, we've grown massively over the last two Tests. I'm already thinking of the next series.
Virat Kohli: It's a great spectacle of Tests. Hard-fought series. Great first game. But great fightback by South Africa and they capitalized in the third. They were clinical with the ball in crunch moments. Lapse of concentration cost us key moments. Absolutely deserving winners in the end. One of the challenges we've faced touring abroad is to make sure that we capitalise on momentum. When we've done that, we've won Tests. And when we haven't, they've cost us quite bad. We've had a few collapses that have cost us important moments and Test matches. (On what cost them the series) It's batting, can't pinpoint any other aspect. Considering their heights, they were able to get much more off the wickets in all three Tests. We batted well in the first Test, but in the second and third, they applied pressure long enough for us to make mistakes. The batting has to be looked into, no running away from that. Having collapses every now and then is not a good thing. We know how far we've come as a team. People expect us to beat South Africa in South Africa is testimony to how far we've come. We haven't done it, that's the reality, accept it and come back as better cricketers. Got to credit the opposition where due. The way KL batted as an opener was heartening. Mayank Agarwal got stuck in on a couple of occasions. Bowling was outstanding. A few crucial knocks from the guys in the middle period. Rishabh's knock in this Test was special. Centurion win was special too. Take the positives and move ahead, come back as better cricketers.
It's time for the presentation now!
South Africa win the third Test by 7 wickets and the series 2-1!
That was a spectacular batting display by the young South African batting unit. They came under immense pressure at the hands of India's superlative pace bowling unit, but never did they look overawed. Dean Elgar showed the way with some solidity with the bat at the top of the order and then it was the youngsters to follow who put the cherry on the cake.
Keegan Petersen was the star with the bat for the hosts. He strung the whole batting unit together, battling the side to a point of safety. He first built a solid foundation with skipper Elgar and fought on in the company of Rassie van der Dussen once Elgar left. India still had a sniff of hope when Petersen was removed, but Temba Bavuma ensured that it did not bear fruit.
The Indian bowlers toiled under the heat of the Super Sport Park without much to show for their efforts. Skipper Kohli went to his premier bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami time and again, but they could not bring about what their skipper was hoping for. Both of them picked up a wicket each, while Shardul Thakur picked the third one.
With all the firepower that the Indian pace bowling unit boasts of, they have failed to defend a target in excess of 200 runs for two consecutive times now. The team management certainly have some questions to answer at this juncture.
63.3 R Ashwin to Temba Bavuma, FOUR! THAT WILL BE THAT! INDIA HAVE BEEN HUMBLED BY SOUTH AFRICA! Length delivery outside off stump. Bavuma gets across his stumps and absolutely wallops that one over square leg for another boundary! Bavuma lets out a cry of joy and everyone in the South African dressing room is jubilant! They should be too!
63.2 R Ashwin to Rassie van der Dussen, FIVE RUNS! THE WHEELS ARE COMING OFF! Full delivery outside off stump. Rassie bunts the ball towards point and gets to the other end. An errant throw, though, races away to the boundary too!
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Newlands, Cape Town
