New Delhi. The Indian cricket team suffered a humiliating defeat in the first match of the two-match Test series against South Africa. In just three days in the Boxing Day Test, the hosts registered a massive victory against India by an innings and 32 runs to take an unassailable 1-0 lead. In the first innings, the Indian team was restricted to a score of just 245 runs while in the second innings it was restricted to just 131 runs. South Africa scored 408 runs in the first innings and took a lead of 163 runs.
Team India, which arrived in South Africa with the dream of winning the Test series for the first time, has received a big blow. In the first match itself, the host team gave a crushing blow and won by a huge margin. Captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and elected to bowl first against India. Veteran fast bowler Kagiso Rabada took 5 wickets in the first innings along with captain Rohit Sharma and Team India were bundled out for just 245 runs. KL Rahul scored a century in the first innings while Virat Kohli scored a half-century in the second innings but it was not enough to avoid defeat.
The batsmen took their knees
Team India’s batting in the Centurion Test against South Africa was very embarrassing. Captain Rohit Sharma returned with 5 runs in the first innings while he returned without opening the account in the second innings. Yashshwi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, R Ashwin and Shardul Thakur defied expectations. Kagiso Rabada took 5 wickets for 59 runs in the first innings while he also took important wickets in the second innings.
The bowlers also lost their strength
After India were bowled out for 245 in the first innings, the bowlers were expected to bowl well against South Africa. The Indian bowlers failed miserably and the Proteas scored above 400. Dean Elgar scored 185 runs while Marco Jensen also scored an unbeaten half-century.
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Tags: India vs South Africa, Kagiso Rabada, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli
First published: December 28, 2023, 20:31 IST