The Proteas capitulated to the might of India on day 5 of the 1st Test to lose by a mammoth 203 runs, writes Khalid Mohidin.
New competition, new team, same disappointment, as the Proteas were bamboozled on day 5 against India.
It was difficult to pick out any stand out moment from a Proteas perspective, despite the fact that Aiden Markram looked a lot more comfortable on a surface that was a lot spicier and had a lot more prominent cracks than the other four days.
It was seam that troubled the Proteas early on with spin playing a vital role to finish off the match.
Mohammed Shami ripped through the Proteas’ middle order taking out Temba Bavuma (0), Faf du Plessis (13) and Quinton de Kock (0) in quick succession.
The moment of the day was when Shami dismissed Du Plessis. The ball pitched on fifth stump and nipped in sharply. Du Plessis decided to leave the delivery and it crashed into his wickets.
His dismissal of Bavuma was a thing of beauty too, slicing the batsman in half and knocking over his middle stump.
Ravindra Jadeja then took out Markram on 39, Vernon Philander and Keshav Maharaj both for a duck – the fourth one of the day.
Dane Piedt decided to take out his frustration, after the India batsmen punished him over two innings, by playing a handy knock with the bat.
Supported by Senuran Muthusamy, the spinning duo put up a brave residence.
Piedt scored an impressive 56 and Muthusamy scored an unbeaten 49, but the Proteas could not hold out any longer.
Shami picked up his five-for with the dismissals of Piedt and Rabada (19) as the Proteas were skittled for 191.
Photo: ICC
