They huffed, they puffed, they ran into AB de Villiers at his determined best, but Virat Kohlil’s men finally blew the South Africa house down, to clinch the fourth Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla by 337 runs.
Don’t let the margin of runs fool you, this was by no means a comfortable win. South Africa’s 143 runs came in 143.1 overs in an innings that spanned nearly 10 hours. In South Africa’s marathon effort to save the match, AB de Villiers’ 297-ball 43 was the pièce de résistance (pun wholly intended). Along with Hashim Amla (25 off 244 balls) and Faf du Plessis (10 runs off 97 balls), de Villiers camped on the Kotla wicket, showing immense defensive technique against spinners and fast bowlers alike, getting his hands and legs bruised by a few balls that rose awkwardly from Umesh Yadav and showing the levels of patience usually associated with a monk. Certainly not the world's most destructive batsman.
Virat Kohli recorded back to back series wins as India's captain. AFP
The day started brightly enough for India when Ravindra Jadeja bowled a ripper to beat Amla’s hitherto exemplary forward defence – the ball turning just enough from an angle to hit the off-stump. But de Villiers was then joined by du Plessis, which reunited the heroes of the famous draw against Australia in 2012 that saw the Proteas bat out five sessions. And from all accounts, they were out for more of the same.
Du Plessis, for his part, took 50 balls to get off the mark. The second new ball had brought India just a solitary wicket and South Africa went into lunch with the loss of only Amla. With South Africa deciding to block even the part-timers, it was clear that the Indians were in for a grind.
During the second session, the prospects of a draw loomed large, and the Indian bowling attack could have been forgiven for thinking the South African defense unbreachable. After all, the series was already wrapped up in Nagpur. But the body language of the Indian bowlers and fielders never indicated that. The appeals were stronger, the smiles turned to frowns of frustration. The intent, it seemed, was to get that one wicket that mattered.
It was Jadeja’s turn to break the partnership once again, as he trapped du Plessis LBW. JP Duminy did not last long, with Ashwin getting him early and it became clear the match would hinge solely on when de Villiers let his guard down. With five wickets in hand, and just under two hours to survive in fading light, South Africa would have fancied their chances at tea.
Enter Umesh Yadav. The paceman had been troubling de Villiers in phases early on in the day, but did not have anything to show for his toil in the wickets column. He would change that in the first over after tea as he got the ball to reverse swing at good pace. He ended Dane Vilas’ horror series with the bat as he played on to the stumps.
The floodgates were now open, and Ashwin struck soon after to snap up the big fish. The ball turned sharply, bounced off the footmarks, hit de Villiers’ gloves and flew to Jadeja at leg slip. The celebrations that followed showed how much that wicket meant to India. The last five wickets, as it transpired, fell in five overs after tea, as Umesh cleaned up the tail with Ashwin.
Kohli admitted after the match that he was surprised by South Africa’s approach to dead-bat everything. “Our patience was tested but our bowlers never panicked, the fielders never panicked and they came out in flying colours,” Kohli said after the match. “At all stages, the bowlers were ready. They told me there was no Tests for six more months, so we can bowl all day. Jadeja said he was ready to bowl till 4:30 if I wanted him to, as did Ashwin.”
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That was the standout feature of India’s most difficult win of the series so far – the patience, the will to fight and the ability to adapt when the opponent’s strategy threw things out of gear. Cast your mind back a few months to Sri Lanka, when Angelo Mathews stood between India and a 2-1 series win. They showed a similar willingness to slug it out, and wait for the moment that could change the match without resorting to desperation.
As much as the fourth innings was a marathon effort for South Africa, so too was it for the Indian bowlers. Ashwin was in his 50th over when the match ended. Jadeja had bowled 46 overs. Even for a spinner, that is an Herculean effort. As Kohli said after the match, it was also a collective effort with different players putting their hands up at different points this series – Amit Mishra picked up crucial breakthroughs in Mohali and Nagpur, Varun Aaron bowled well in Bengaluru and when given a chance at Kotla, Umesh made it count as well.
In his second series win as captain, Kohli’s team has shown that they can win convincingly even when the conditions aren't entirely in their favour and the opponents offers a fight.
And at the Kotla, Kohli and his bowling unit made a statement – that they are also good at patiently prowling before closing in on the kill.
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