Team India suffered a massive blow in the World Test Championship race as they lost the top spot on the points table after a crushing defeat against South Africa in Centurion. It was an underwhelming show from India with both bat and ball as they failed to match the intensity with the Proteas and lost the Test by an innings and 32 runs.
India dropped down to the fifth spot on the points table with South Africa grabbing the top position with a win in their first match of the ongoing WTC cycle.
India were holding the top spot with a 66.67 winning percentage before Thursday’s results. The defeat impacted India’s position drastically as their winning percentage dropped to 44.44 with one win, one loss and a draw in three matches.
Pakistan remained at the second spot but their position might change after the ongoing Boxing Day Test against Australia as the hosts hold the upper hand in the game at the moment.
Meanwhile, riding on super performances from bowlers and a majestic 185 from Dean Elgar, a dominant South Africa crushed India by an innings and 32 runs inside three days to take an unassailable 1-0 lead in the series.
After having conceded a lead of 163 runs, as Elgar, along with fifties from Marco Jansen and David Bedingham, took South Africa to 408, India’s batting in the second innings was very much like a horror movie, just like how their lacklustre bowling effort was.
Their second innings ran till 34.1 overs, eight batters fell for single-digit scores as South Africa’s bowlers, led by Nandre Burger’s four-fer to take his debut match tally to seven scalps, made merry in their home conditions.
Talismanic batter Virat Kohli tried to avoid the ignominy of an innings defeat, scoring a fighting 76 off 82 balls. But with his team-mates falling without giving a fight, his knock wasn’t just enough to delay the inevitable as India were bowled out for 131, and are now 1-0 behind in the two-game series.
Th second match of the series will be start on January 3 in Capetown as India will look for a win to avoid series defeat and improve their position on the WTC points table.
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