Courtesy: BCCI
The Indian cricket team registered one of their greatest Test wins over South Africa, defeating them by 337 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, then called Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on December 7, 2015. This is currently the third biggest Test triumph by runs for India in Test cricket history, only behind a 372-run win over New Zealand in Mumbai (2021) and a 434-run win over England in Rajkot (2024). With this epic performance, India also sealed the four-match Test series 3-0 against South Africa after winning two of the three matches in Mohali and Nagpur earlier.
After winning the toss, Virat Kohli, the captain of India, had no hesitation in batting first on a Delhi pitch which was expected to get lower and slower, while providing enough turn to the bowlers as the game progressed. His decision proved to be correct as the Indian cricket team posted a formidable total of 337 runs in 117.5 overs with a century from Ajinkya Rahane. For South Africa, Kyle Abbott was exceptional with the ball, to pick up a five-wicket haul, while Dane Piedt took four wickets.
Ajinkya Rahane scored twin hundreds vs South Africa in Delhi Test
In response, South Africa, who were having a horror time as a batting unit in the Test series, were bundled out for just 121 runs in 49.3 overs with Ravindra Jadeja taking a five-wicket haul. India didn’t enforce the follow-on, which led to them scoring 267/5dec in 100.1 overs during their second innings after Ajinkya Rahane brought up his second hundred in the Test match. Virat Kohli got a well-made 88 at a strike-rate of 53.33, which was quite a difficult feat to achieve on a pitch where the scoring wasn’t quite easy.
With a massive target of 481 in front of them, South Africa went in with an approach to bat out the five remaining sessions, to save the Test match at the Feroz Shah Kotla. The batting lineup of Proteas nearly pulled off the impossible, stretching their second innings till the final session on day five, batting 143.1 overs for just 143 runs, but it wasn’t enough as they lost their third Test in four in the series. Umesh Yadav’s final spell, taking three quick wickets was crucial after AB de Villiers 43(297) and Hashim Amla 25(244) batted for hours and hours on the final day.
