In January 2018, when India visited South Africa to play a 3-match Test series, they lost the series, 2-1. It was a humiliating series for the Indian team under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. Even though the player did well in the series, the team’s performance wasn’t that good.
In the first game, South Africa won by 72 runs, where the Indian batting line-up failed massively. It was the hosts’ decision to bat first after winning the toss. Things seemed to work out for India as they claimed three early wickets, sending the top order back to the pavilion.
But then came AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, and formed a partnership of 114 runs, troubling the bowling unit. Because of their resilience and the support from the lower middle order batters, South Africa’s score was 286 runs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the leading wicket-taker of the innings, claiming four wickets. When India came to bat, except for Hardik Pandya, no other scored runs and the team ended up scoring 209 runs.
With the lead in their hands, when the Proteas came in to bat in the second innings, they made only 130 runs but India got a target of 208 runs. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami claimed three wickets while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya got two wickets each.
With a huge target in hand, the Indian batting order was dismantled within no time. They only scored 135 runs, and Ravichandran Ashwin scored 37 runs. Vernon Philander claimed a 6-wicket haul, finishing off the game for the hosts. He also took three wickets in the first innings. Hence, he was awarded with the Player of the Match trophy.
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