And India once again breached the fortress of yet another country. India started the year by breaching Australia’s fortress at Gabba and end the year by breaching South Africa’s fortress at Centurion. This year has been exceptional for India in Test Cricket. And with this win, India recorded their first ever win at Centurion. Virat Kohli and his team has done enough to be tagged as one of the greatest Indian test side in history. We’ll dive into the full details of the match. We will also see who won MOM in IND vs SA 1st Test. Let’s dive into the article.
Who won MOM in IND vs SA 1st Test?
KL Rahul, the vice captain of Indian Test Team, was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his brilliant knock of 123 runs in the first innings. He set the stage for India with Mayank Agarwal with 100+ opening partnership. KL Rahul showed his class and hit another century outside Asia. He is just phenomenal outside home. And with this century, Rahul became only the second Indian opener to score a century in South Africa after Wasim Jaffer. The condition were suitable to bowlers on the first day and the pitch was also green, but KL showed his class and played a brilliant knock.
And Rahul now has century in every country he has played in. Interestingly, he has more Test hundreds away from home than at home. He made a perfect comeback to the Indian Test team. For the last couple of years, he lost his place in the Indian Test Team, but now he is a regular member and even Vice captain.
1st innings.
Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to bat first on a green top. Interestingly, India played with 5 bowlers and no place for Shreyas Iyer or Hanuma Vihari. But Indian batters batted sensibly in the start on a difficult track. India made a 117 runs opening partnership when Mayank nicked one ball from Lungi Ngidi to De Kock. India lost Pujara on the next delivery only. But KL Rahul made a brilliant partnership with Virat Kohli. And Virat Kohli, once again looking good at the middle but nicked one delivery way too outside of the stump. Rahane also played positively. And with a brilliant hundred from Rahul, India were able to score 327 runs. India’s middle and lower middle order can’t contribute much in this innings.
With the bowling also, India started brilliantly with Bumrah getting South African captain Dean Elgar in the very first over. South African top order rattled in front of India’s pace bowling. Temba Bavuma showed some grit at the crease. Bavuma was the highest run scorer for South Africa with a knock of 52 runs. De Kock also played an innings of 34 runs but South Africa managed to score only 197 runs. Mohammad Shami bowler beautifully and he got 5 wickets in this innings. Jasprit Bumrah injured himself in the middle of Indian bowling, that’s why he bowled only 7 overs.
Also Read: KL Rahul Will Lead India Against South Africa, If Rohit Doesn’t Get Fit Early.
2nd innings
India is having a handy lead of 130 runs in the 2nd innings. And there were also possibility of rains on the last day. So India wanted to play fast and set a target. But India lost wickets at regular intervals. Virat Kohli, once again looked solid at the crease. But for the umpteenth time, he nicked of the outside ball. Rishabh Pant provided some attack from the Indian batting with his run a ball 34. In the second innings, India managed to score 174 runs. For South Africa, debutant Marco Jansen was amazing. He also got the big wicket of Indian captain Virat Kohli. Kagiso Rabada also got 4 wickets in the second innings. And South Africa have a target of 305 runs to win the first test match between India and South Africa.
And South Africa have a huge target on their shoulders to chase. Once again, the opening partnership was broken in the opening overs. But Dean Elgar played a gritty and captaincy knock of 77 runs. But he barely got any support from the other end. Wickets kept felling from the other end but he stood strong. But Bumrah got him LBW. Temba Bavuma also showed some fight but was not enough to win this match. In the end, it was all about Indian bowlers who got the best out out of South African batting line-up. And South Africa bundled out for just 191 runs in the last innings. Ravichandran Ashwin got the last two wickets and Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami shared 3 wickets each. And India won the match by 113 runs and lead the series 1-0.
Conclusion
Started this year with a win at Gabba. ending it with one at Centurion. In the middle, they have also breached England’s fortress at Lords. This year has been exceptional for Team India in Tests. With this win, Virat Kohli became the only Indian captain to win two Boxing Day Test matches. Indian team lead this series with 1-0 and they have a brilliant chance to win their ever series in South Africa.
