India, chasing 208, were bundled out for just 135 and skipper Virat Kohli felt someone had to score a 75-80 to show the way in challenging conditions. The visitors struggled against Vernon Philander and Co and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. "If we had taken our chances in the first innings, even after them counter-attacking, we could have kept them to 220 which would have been ideal. We're not a team which thinks of what-ifs though. Losing wickets in bunches is something we have to plug in. We were pretty much in the Test match on all days. We were thinking 250-275 (the target) if they play well. To restrict them to 210 was an outstanding effort. We needed someone to get a 75-80," said Kohli at the post-match presentation ceremony. South Africa were a bowler short after heel injury ruled Dale Steyn out of the remainder of the series. That, however, didn't have much say on the game as the trio of Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada and Philander made life difficult for Indian batsmen in the chase. "Credit to them, they were a bowler short and still bowled their heart out. We need to rectify our mistakes also. Mini collapses in both innings is something we have to think about, how to string in partnerships. This game is all about stringing in partnerships. They did that better than us," said Kohli. India had South Africa on the mat at 12/3 in the first innings but counter-attack from the middle-order and handy contributions from the tail pushed their first innings total to 286. Kohli said the bowlers rectified their mistakes in the second innings and the team "kept pulling things back". "Bowlers learned pretty quickly from the first innings, whatever mistakes needed to be corrected. We kept pulling things back against a side which is very strong at home. Still feeling good about how we went about this Test match. The mindset matters when you're traveling away from home on pitches which challenge you. Need to be positive in defence and when you're leaving also. You need to grab scoring opportunities," said Kohli. After a miserable start in the first innings, Hardik Pandya bailed the side out of trouble with an aggressive 93. Kohli was all praise for his all-rounder. "He's (Hardik Pandya) a strong character. He backs himself and we believe in him. He's performing for us now, even away from home. That knock was brilliant, showed a lot of character," said Kohli.
