Ashwin spins India to series triumph against S. Africa

Nagpur: Indian captain Virat Kohli celebrates after winning the third Test against South Africa at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on Friday.—AFP

NAGPUR: Ravichandran Ashwin claimed 12 wickets in the match as India swamped South Africa by 124 runs with two days to spare in the third Test to clinch the series here at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on Friday.

The Proteas, who resumed at 32-2 chasing a target of 310, folded up for 185 in their second innings after tea on the third day on a dusty, deteriorating pitch.

Off-spinner Ashwin followed his 5-32 in the first innings with 7-66 in the second to take his tally in the series to 24 wickets in five innings so far.

India had won the first Test in Mohali by 108 runs, while the second in Bangalore was washed out by rain after the opening day’s play.

Proteas lose first away series after nine years

The fourth and final Test will be played at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi from Dec 3, with the hosts firm favourites to complete a 3-0 scoreline.

Proteas captain Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis put on the highest partnership in the Test of 72 runs, scoring 39 apiece, but no other batsman touched 20.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra removed both batsmen in the space of six deliveries just before tea, ending the resistance by the flat-footed tourists against the turning ball.

India have now won eight of their last nine Tests on home soil -- all inside three days -- having routed Australia 4-0 and the West Indies 2-0 in 2013 before taking the first and third Tests in the current series.

The winning sequence was broken only by the drawn rain-hit Bangalore Test.

The defeat marked top-ranked South Africa’s first series loss abroad in nine years after the 2-0 setback in Sri Lanka in 2006.

Indian captain Virat Kohli hailed Ashwin as the best spinner in the world and said he was pleased to win the series against the number one side in the world.

“Ashwin is a world-class spinner, probably the best in the world at the moment,” said Kohli. “He is a very improved bowler and stepped up for us in a big way in this series.

“It is very pleasing to defeat South Africa, especially since they won both the Twenty20 and one-day series earlier. We played some very good cricket in all the three Tests.”

Kohli said his team was not bothered by the criticism over the Nagpur wicket, adding it was more important to perform well in difficult conditions.

“It was a challenging wicket, but our batsmen showed character to put runs on the board,” he said. “You have to create chances when you get conditions which are going to be bowler-friendly.

“Spinners obviously had an upper hand in the series, but sealing the series by playing well was more important for us.”

Amla and du Plessis, who came together in the morning session after the fall of the fourth wicket at 58, defended for 46.2 overs in the fifth-wicket partnership.

Amla negotiated 167 deliveries and du Plessis faced 152 balls before falling in quick succession to Mishra at the end of the afternoon session.

Amla, whose highest score in the series is 43, edged a catch to Kohli at gully. In Mishra’s next over, du Plessis played over an attempted pull and was bowled.

South Africa faced a tough task since a target of over 300 runs had been chased successfully just once on Indian soil -- by the home team who made 387-4 to defeat England in Chennai in 2008.

INDIA (1st Innings) 215 (M. Vijay 40, W. Saha 32, R. Jadeja 34, M. Morkel 3-35, S. Harmer 4-78).

SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings) 79 (JP Duminy 35, R Ashwin 5-32, R. Jadeja 4-33)

INDIA (2nd Innings) 173 (S. Dhawan 39, C. Pujara 31, M. Morkel 3-19, Imran Tahir 5-38)

SOUTH AFRICA (2nd Innings, overnight 32-2):

D. Elgar lbw b Ashwin 18

S. van Zyl c R. Sharma b Ashwin 5

I. Tahir lbw b Mishra 8

H. Amla c Kohli b Mishra 39

AB de Villiers lbw b Ashwin 9

F. du Plessis b Mishra 39

J.P. Duminy lbw b Ashwin 19

D. Vilas c Saha b Ashwin 12