India defeated South Africa by seven wickets in the second Test between the two countries on Thursday at Newlands in Cape Town, drawing the two-match series.
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India won their first Test at Newlands. South Africa won the first Test, which began on Boxing Day, by an innings and a half in three days at Centurion.
With a modest target of 79 in the final innings to win the second Test, India reached the target in 12 overs, with the most contributions coming from Yashasvi Jaiswal (28 off 23 balls).
South Africa were bowled out for 176 in their second innings earlier in the day, despite opening batter Aiden Markram scoring a sensational 106 off 103 balls. He hit 16 fours and two sixes.
Captain Dean Elgar was the next best Proteas batter with 12 runs. For the now-retired 36-year-old Test batter, it was an 86th and final Test match to forget.
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Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the Indian bowlers, returning figures of 6/61 in 13.5 overs to follow in the footsteps of teammate Mohammed Siraj, who was the main destroyer in the first innings with his 6/15 in nine overs.
The match, which was played on a fast wicket with inconsistent bounce, did not last five sessions.
South Africa were bowled out for 55 in the first session of day one on Wednesday, while India were bowled out for 153 later that afternoon. They appeared to be on track for a big total until they lost their last six wickets for no runs in 11 balls.
South Africa’s second innings began late on day one and ended on 62/3 on day two on Thursday. While the Indian bowlers continued to make light work of the Proteas batting lineup, Markram held his ground, hitting the ball to all parts of the ground to reach his seventh Test century before lunch.
After the lunch break, India began their run chase, and they reached their target of 79 runs in an hour of play in the afternoon session.
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Picture: Grant Pitcher / Gallo Images