South Africa Vs India, 1st Test: Rohit Sharma & Co Suffer Humiliating Innings Defeat Inside 3 Days In Centurion; IND - 245 & 131, RSA - 408 - As It Happened

Hello and welcome to South Africa vs India, 1st Test, Day 3 from Centurion, India's Tour of South Africa 2023-24, Match Blog. India can't win a Test series in South Africa until the next tour, and it will not happen until late 2025. India arrived in South Africa and shared the honours in the T20Is before winning the ODIs, but the Proteas protected the "Final Frontier". India have won a Test series where they needed to win, except for South Africa. The latest iteration of India vs South Africa started with a Boxing Day fixture under overcast conditions, and delayed toss. Then it took less than three days for Rohit Sharma & Co. to surrender in one of the worst displays by a visiting Indian team in the recent past. The innings defeat, in a two-match series, put India in a precarious position. For the record, they were the runners in the first two editions of the ICC World Test Championship. The second and final match in Cape Town is scheduled to start on January 3, 2023.
(Scorecard | IND-W Vs AUS-W Scorecard | Match Report | Dec 28 Live Blog | Cricket News)

That's all from our side!

India - last five Tests in SENA countries
Lost by 7 wkts vs SA Joburg 2022
Lost by 7 wkts vs SA Cape Town 2022
Lost by 7 wkts vs Eng Birmingham 2022
Lost by 209 runs vs Aus The Oval 2023
Lost by an innings & 32 runs vs SA Centurion 2023

India captain, Rohit Sharma: We didn't have what it took to win. KL batted well after being put into bat to get us that score, but we didn't utilise the circumstances with the ball and then didn't show up today with the bat. If we want to win Test matches, we must work together as a team, which we did not do. We've been here before, so we know what to anticipate, and everyone has their strategy. Our batters were tested, and we failed to respond properly. We saw them score a lot on this boundary-scoring field, but we also need to study the opponent and their capabilities. 

Player of the match - Dean Elgar (185 off 287 balls)
A special knock. I believe you should keep things simple because the game is already rather sophisticated. Concentrate on the ball and play smooth and straight. Play late and be fantastic. When the roller coaster is to your advantage, you must ride it. Excellent collaborations with Tony and Jansen also demonstrated his talent. To win Test matches, you need quick bowlers and a spinner who can take 20 wickets. KG was outstanding, but Nandre demonstrated why he has been such a shining beacon for South African cricket.

Brief Score: IND - 245 & 131,  RSA - 408
Virat Kohli - 76 (82),  Shubman Gill - 26 (37)  |  Nandre Burger: (10-3-33-4)
Dean Elgar - 185 (287),  Marco Jansen - 84 (107)  |  Jasprit Bumrah: (26.4-5-69-4)

8:30 PM: South Africa won by an innings and 32 runs!
India's Virat Kohli was the last man to be dismissed as South Africa take lead in the Test series with a big win in the first match. And with that loss, India's dream to win a Test series in South Africa also remained incomplete. Virat Kohli made a fighting 76 but that was not enough. No other batter spent much time on the crease. 

8:08 PM: IND - 117/8 (24-31 Overs Highlights)
Indian wickets fell like a deck of cards. Virat Kohli is the sole batter who looked in control and has completed his fifty. Otherwise, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Shardul Thakur all batters gave their wickets on poor deliveries. On a wicket where batters have to spend some time and then look for ways to score runs, Indian batters looked in haste and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Bumrah got run out on a not-needed double as Virat Kohli wanted to keep the strike. South Africa are just two wickets away from a major win. 

7:30 PM: IND - 95/4 (17-23 Overs Highlights)
Shreyas Iyer got bowled on Marco Jansen's delivery, and KL Rahul replaced him at the crease right after Tea break. Virat Kohli is the sole warrior standing on the other side as his partners keep changing. Rahul played a crucial knock in the first innings and the same would be expected of him from here.

6:40 PM: IND - 62/3 (16)  - Tea Break
India lost another wicket when Kagiso Rabada bowled Shubman Gill to give India another setback. Now, Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli are trying to stop the wickets from falling and reduce South Africa's lead as much as possible. At the time of the Tea Break, India were trailing by 101 runs.

6:10 PM: IND - 23/2 (0-10 Overs Highlights)
Indian opener Rohit Sharma was bowled by Kagiso Rabada for a duck. Nandre Burger soon removed Yashasvi Jaiswal by an easy caught behind. Indian batting stalwarts Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill are at the crease trying to adapt to the conditions and make runs as Rabada and Burger have made it very difficult for the Indian batters out there in Centurion.

5:30 PM: India Start Batting In 2nd Innings
Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal started the Indian innings with Kagiso Rabada opening the bowling attack for South Africa. There was a dropped chance on the very first delivery when Aiden Markram dropped Jaiswal's catch in the slips.

IND - 1/0 (1)

5:20 PM: RSA - 408/10 (108.4)
Marco Jansen remained unbeaten on 84 runs as Jasprit Bumrah bowled Nandre Burger to finish the South African innings as captain Temba Bavuma was absent out. India are trailing by 163 runs.

4:44 PM: Bumrah Gets Rabada!
The match resumed after Lunch break and Jasprit Bumrah struck with the first over. Bumrah bowled Rabada to give South Africa their eighth wicket.

4:10 PM: RSA - 392/7  - Lunch Break

4:00 PM: RSA - 392/7  (94-100 Overs Highlights)
Shardul 'Clutch' Thakur claimed the wicket of set batter Dean Elgar as South Africa approaches 400 runs. Marco Jansen has shifted gears after Elgar's dismissal and charging against Indian bowlers as he also approaches his maiden century. 

3:26 PM: RSA - 358/5  (84-93 Overs Highlights)
Marco Jansen completed his second Test fifty and Dean Elgar is also approaching his first double-hundred. Indian bowlers still searching for the first breakthrough of the day. Jasprit Bumrah and Co tried their best but the fruits are yet to come. Elgar and Jansen extracted boundaries on the balls and kept the scoreboard moving.

2:40 PM: RSA - 315/5  (76-83 Overs Highlights)
Marco Jansen showed his all-rounder prowess and gave good support to Dean Elgar who completed 150 runs in this phase. Elgar is nearing his first double hundred and Jansen is approaching his Test fifty as Indian bowlers still search for their first breakthrough of the day. Elgar has now surpassed his second-best Test score of 160 runs that he made against India in Vizag in 2019.

2:00 PM: RSA - 287/5  (67-75 Overs Highlights)
Dean Elgar and Marco Jansen started from where they left off yesterday. Dean Elgar played patiently and added a few runs but Marco Jansen took responsibility to score quickly and add runs with boundaries. In the first nine overs of Day 3, the Proteas batters have added 30-odd runs with a good strike rate. Indian bowlers are looking for another breakthrough.

12:45 PM: Day 2 Recap 

KL Rahul dragged India to a 245 total in the morning session, completing his ton in the process and earning praise from all corners of the cricketing fraternity. Rahul's efforts, however, were in vain, as Dean Elgar upstaged the Indian wicketkeeper with 140 unbeaten runs to take the hosts past India's total by the end of the day. 

Elgar will resume batting on Day 3 of his penultimate international match with Marco Jansen to assist him on the crease. RSA are 256/5 ahead of Day 3, leading IND by 11 runs. 

12:15 PM: Weather Update 

It's a sunny morning in Centurion, where rain has disrupted play on both the previous days. The weather report indicates that the chances of a downpour will increase as the day goes along. Barring that, the players should be in for a good day out in the sun, with fans sprawled across the Centurion lawns, enjoying their day out.

11:45 AM: Preview! 

Squads

India’s squad for Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Abhimanyu Easwaran, KS Bharat (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.

South Africa Test squad: Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Keegan Petersen, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wk).