India crashed to a humiliating 10-wicket defeat in the second Test after their young batsmen surrendered meekly to give South Africa a 1-0 series triumph in Jacques Kallis’ farewell match on Monday.
Needing to bat out the fifth day to force a draw, the Indians had the worst possible start as they lost Virat Kohli on the very first ball and never recovered from the jolt to be bundled out for 223. Ajinkya Rahane stood bravely amidst the ruins with a gutsy 96 and was last man out. India were pegged back after losing five wickets in the morning session.
Left-arm spinner Robin Peterson was the pick of the bowlers, while pacemen Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander scalped three each. South Africa chased down the target of 58 in 11.4 overs. The victory was a befitting parting gift for retiring hero Kallis, who had a memorable match by cracking his 45th Test hundred. Smith’s cover drive to the fence triggered off celebrations in the home camp with the players hugging each other and shaking hands. For the Indians, it was a heart-breaking end of the tour, having been drubbed in the ODI series earlier. This loss was all the more disappointing because the team had fought gallantly in the thrilling drawn Test in Johannesburg.
It was the fifth time that India lost a Test series in South Africa. The 1-1 in 2010-11 was the only instance when they avoided defeat. This was their ninth defeat in the last 10 overseas Tests. After Kohli, India’s tale of woes continued. Steyn bowled a superb delivery to fox Cheteshwar Pujara, who thought he had the line covered, but had his off stump rocked back.
Rohit Sharma was looking good to make a mark and was involved in a spat with Steyn. He hit the fast bowler for four and lifted Peterson for a six before being trapped in front by Philander.
Rahane was joined by skipper MS Dhoni in the middle and they put on 42 for the sixth wicket. But just when it seemed India could avoid further damage, Dhoni was caught at mid-wicket off Peterson.
Ravindra Jadeja played a horrific shot soon after, even as Rahane looked for support from the tail-enders. He found some in Zaheer, who hung on for long enough to help Rahane reach his second half-century of the match.
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