On This Day In 2015 Cricket: A pair of excellent hundreds by Ajinkya Rahane and the class of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja propelled India to a massive triumph in the fourth and final Test of the Gandhi-Mandela Trophy in Delhi against South Africa back in 2015. Having already broken the Proteas’ proud record of not losing an away series for nine years, India humbled them with a dominant 337-run victory and finished with a 3-0 series scoreline.
After proving his mettle during the 2013-14 cycle of foreign tours, Rahane ticked off another box by scoring his maiden home Test century in the first innings. His brilliant 127 off 215 deliveries belied the tricky conditions on a dry surface, where the next-highest score was a useful 56 by Ashwin.
The hosts finished with 334 all out in the first innings, with pacer Kyle Abbott taking 5 for 40.
India win the final Test match in Delhi by 337 runs to take the series 3-0! https://t.co/X4i1JdOvSm #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/CXSSy8TFec
— ICC (@ICC) December 7, 2015
Then the spin trial continued for the struggling visitors, who once again collapsed to the spin twin of Ashwin-Jadeja. Deploying his great mix of the arm-ball with the away spinner, Jadeja completely befuddled the South Africans and took 5 for 30.
The Proteas got bundled out for just 121 as only the great AB de Villiers showed any resilience in the middle for his 42.
India further piled on the misery for the tourists by extending their massive lead of 213 runs to an insurmountable target of 481. After early stutters, the hosts recovered with skipper Virat Kohli and Rahane establishing India’s dominance. Kohli played his best innings of the series and blazed a range of delightful strokes during his 88 off 165 balls.
On the other end, Rahane backed his first-innings century with a high-class 100* and joined an exclusive club of players with two hundreds scored in a Test match for India, featuring greats Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli. Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant also entered the elite list later on.
As South Africa recognised their victory was out of equation, their marvellous trio of captain Hashim Amla, De Villiers and Faf du Plessis resorted to a famous blockathon.
The visitors aimed to eliminate risks and put their strokes away, forcing Indian bowlers to get them out purely on defence on a Delhi surface that slowed down considerably towards late Day 4 and on Day 5.
What followed was one of the great passages of Test cricket in India.
India have wrapped up the series 3-0. Great grit was shown by the team but they fell short in the end.#ProteaFire pic.twitter.com/SqIFrMXG1P
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 7, 2015
Having sent opener Dean Elgar early, India saw the resolute Temba Bavuma play out 117 deliveries for his 34, while No.3 Amla took on 244 balls for his 25. The two players were eventually sent back by Ashwin and Jadeja, but by then, the Proteas grew in confidence over their tactic. De Villiers and Duplessis batted in the same vein.
One of the game’s most extraordinary strokemakers, De Villiers kept out a whopping 297 deliveries for his innings of 44. Du Plessis, who had pulled off a famous draw in Adelaide against Australia three years earlier, faced 97 deliveries for his 10.
It was the most that Ashwin-Jadeja had to work hard for their wickets in the series. But the two relentless spinners kept attacking the stumps and never really let the De Villiers-Du Plessis duo get too comfortable. Jadeja sent Du Plessis back LBW, while Ashwin eventually got De Villiers out caught on a sharp, jumping off-break.
Ashwin also scalped JP Duminy to expose the South African tail before Umesh Yadav ran through the rest of the pack with his excellent use of reverse swing.
