Vernon Philander (R) took six wickets for South Africa. (AP Photo)
South Africa came back twice in the first Test and completed a 72-run win over India in Cape Town. They were rocked on the first morning when Bhuvneshwar Kumar reduced them to 12 for 3 but they managed to post 286. In the second innings, they were bowled out for 130 and set a target of only 208 runs but Vernon Philander picked his career-best figures of 6 for 42 and won them the game.
Philander has a terrific record at Newlands and improved it on Monday. He said that they were surprised after the first day because Newlands is a slow pitch. But then South Africa did well with both bat and ball to win the game.
“Coming to Newlands, it is generally slow, but they caught us off guard in the first morning. It was a wonderful effort with the bat from us in the first innings,” Philander said after receiving the Man-of-the-Match award. “What better crowd, what better conditions you can ask for! I think the ways the boys went about it was special. We were one seamer down but KG and Morne also bowled pretty well.”
South Africa bowled out India for 135 in the second innings despite not having Dale Steyn in the bowling line-up due to heel injury. Philander said that Steyn would have been very useful but it was good to see the team win. He is also returning after recovering from an injury and said that though he was a bit stiff.
“It is really important to put the opposition under pressure in a three-match series. Dale would have been a real handful. We feel sorry for him and wish him a speedy recovery. And thanks to the great crowd over the three days. I have been coming back after the break, so I felt a little stiff. Look, Dale has been one hell of a champion, one hell of a leader. Hopefully, he is back as soon as possible,” he said.
Faf du Plessis also expressed his pleasure on how South Africa managed to fight back every time the chips were down. He said that with India getting a good start, his team needed to reply strongly and that is what it did.
“Every single time in this Test, we had to stand up in tough periods. The way we responded was brilliant. Even with them getting to a decent start, we stuck to our guns,” Du Plessis said after the match. “The first morning we expected it to move around, but quite a bit of damage was done in the first hour. I thought 270 was par, Pandya then took risks and it came off. Once again, the bowlers stepped up.”
South Africa had a decent to start to their second innings but were rattled on day four when India took quick wickets. They somehow managed to take the lead past 200, thanks to De Villiers. Du Plessis said that the pitch on day four looked like the pitch on day one with the bowlers getting so much assistance.
“The plan was to try to get 200 runs and have a lead of 350 and have a crack at them. We were surprised how much the ball was doing. It was like a day one pitch. Green, again. It was a good pitch, though, and there was a good challenge between the bat and ball,” he said.
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