South Africa won by 72 runs
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Vernon Philander
Batter
Bowler
Harsha Bhogle: Will be a long way back in the series from here.
So a superb Test at Newlands to begin the new year with. Home teams continue to dominate. Away teams continue to hunt for ways of creating something. It's good, in a way, because when some team does manage to conquer the foreign shores, it will mean that much more. Ideally, the series would have been set up perfectly if India had come through today, but they've shown enough for us to keep looking forward to the next two matches. Next is Centurion. See you there. Until then, it's a goodbye from Sagar Chawla, Srivathsa, Ramakrishnan, Vineet Anantharaman and Nikhil Jadhav!
Steyn (on crutches): I'm on the crutches, because I've got a no-weight bearing on my leg for a while, at least two weeks. It's right on the heel, extremely sore to stand on. Have to give it the time to recover. Will be up and running in six weeks. That ball, I came a little bit wide on the crease. Landed on the side of the foothole. Don't know, must have slipped on it a little bit. Went back to the top of my mark. Tried to run, and I was like, no this isn't happening. A little tear came up on the MRI. Not ideal, have had a whole year off already. I was feeling good, was enjoying it actually. But it's okay. I've been playing the Ram Slam, bowled well there. In five games, I've got two MoMs there. Got some overs under my belt against Zimbabwe. Bowled 18 overs here. Was competitive all along. Bowled with good speed. Felt the more cricket I play, the quicker I'll get. Was having a lot of fun. This is kind of like a cricket injury. It's like a batter getting hit on the hand and breaking a finger. I'm okay with it. It would have been disappointing if it was the shoulder. It's a cricket injury, I've got to put it away. Shoulder is fine now. Lot of rehab. Just getting myself ready. Going through the Ram Slam was nice. I felt ready. Unfortunately this happened. Just the cards I'm dealt with. Next two weeks, stay off my feet. In about four weeks, I'll start running. Will start practicing again in six weeks. Have had a whole year out, so when someone says six weeks, it doesn't sound too bad. Hopefully come the Aussies, I'll be good to go.
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Plenty of records tumbling, and that's a field day for out stats editor, Deepu Narayanan
* India in Tests outside Asia since Jan 2011 (excluding WI):
D.L.L.L.L.L.L.L.L.D.L.L.D.D.W.L.L.L.L.L.D.D.L
P:23 W:1 L:16 D:6
* Best innings figures for Philander:
6/42 vs Ind, Cape Town, 2018 *
6/44 vs NZ, Hamilton, 2012
6/81 vs NZ, Wellington, 2012
* Narrowest winning margin in Ind-SA Tests (runs):
64 Ind bt SA, Ahmedabad, 1996
72 SA bt Ind, Cape Town, 2018 *
87 Ind bt SA, Durban, 2010
* Lowest targets failed to chase down by India (losses):
120 vs WI, Bridgetown, 1997 (81 all-out)
176 vs SL, Galle, 2015 (112 all-out)
208 vs SA, Cape Town, 2018 (135 all-out) *
* Asian teams in Cape Town:
P 12
W 0
L 10*
D 2
* India losing seven wickets inside 100 runs in each innings:
56/7 & 80/7 vs Aus, Brisbane, 1947
51/7 & 66/7 vs Eng, Manchester, 1952
28/7 & 66/7 vs NZ, Hybd, 1969
74/7 & 40/7 vs SA, Durban, 1996
68/7 & 70/7 vs Eng, Oval, 2014
92/7 & 82/7 vs SA, Cape Town, 2018 *
* Only once a visiting team has comeback to win a series in South Africa after losing the first Test - 2-1 win in the 5-Test series by England in 1922/23
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Shivit Singh: The "bowling allrounders" tried to bring them into the match as much as the batsmen let them down!!
Faf du Plessis, winning captain: Every single time when we needed to stand up through tough periods, we responded beautifully. Didn't plan to be 12/3, but we responded. Even today, after India got off to a decent start, we stuck to our plans and put great pressure on their batters. The first morning, we expected it to move around for the first hour. That total we felt was just around par. We felt 270 was going to be par. Even in the second innings, from 90/7, AB played a great knock, he took some risks. Plan was to get 200 runs, to get a lead of 350 and to have a crack at them tonight. But we were surprised how much it was doing this morning. When we came in today, the pitch was green again, almost like the day 1 pitch. It was tough, they bowled really well. I think it was a fantastic cricket wicket. There was a good challenge between bat and ball. Really important in a three-match series to put the opposition under pressure. If we had four seamers here today, Dale would have been a handful. Thoughts with him. Feel sorry for the guy. He's trained so hard and he's injured again. Thanks to the crowd, been a great crowd.
Harsha Bhogle: Brilliant from Philander. India can be proud of the way they bowled but was too much for the batsmen. Shows you conditions are king in test cricket
Philander: It's generally slow here. It caught us off-guard on the first morning. But the boys stuck to their guns. To get 286 was a wonderful effort with the bat. What better setting can you ask for. One of the better grounds to play cricket at. Just a great atmosphere. Lot of the times you have one bowler get the praise, but the way the bowlers stuck to their guns after being a seamer down was superb. Coming back after the break, I felt a bit stiff. Just hope Dale gets back as quickly as possible. He's been hell of a champion, hell of a leader for us. To see him go down is quite heartbreaking for the squad.
Philander is MoM
Kohli, losing captain: If we had taken our chances in the first innings, even after them counter-attacking, we could have kept them to 220 which would have been ideal. We're not a team which thinks of what-ifs though. Losing wickets in bunches is something we have to plug in. We were pretty much in the Test match on all days. We were thinking 250-275 (the target) if they play well. To restrict them to 210 was an outstanding effort. We needed someone to get a 75-80. Credit to them, they were a bowler short and still bowled their heart out. We need to rectify our mistakes also. Mini collapses in both innings is something we have to think about, how to string in partnerships. This game is all about stringing in partnerships. They did that better than us. Bowlers learned pretty quickly from the first innings, whatever mistakes needed to be corrected. We kept pulling things back against a side which is very strong at home. Still feeling good about how we went about this Test match. The mindset matters when you're traveling away from home on pitches which challenge you. Need to be positive in defence and when you're leaving also. You need to grab scoring opportunities. He's (Hardik Pandya) a strong character. He backs himself and we believe in him. He's performing for us now, even away from home. That knock was brilliant, showed a lot of character.
Harsha Bhogle: Was inevitable once Kohli got out.
India made big calls for their playing eleven, something which was highly debated, and will continue to be debated. However, it's their positive intent, highlighted none better than Hardik Pandya's sensational all-round performance on day 2, that will continue to urge this team forward. The batting personnel need to be looked at, as I'm sure there's a place for Ajinkya Rahane in this team. The bowlers, however, can be incredibly proud. They brought India back into it today, triggering a South African collapse to keep the target within sight. They've been massive shining lights. Stay with us for the presentations..
The hosts were big favourites, and it's a testament to how strong they are at home that they managed to overcome the worst of the conditions in this Test. As per their own admission, their decision at the toss was a mistake. But their class eventually shone through, first in the form of AB de Villiers - who was exceptional in both innings, especially in the first - where he led a superb recovery from 12/3. And then the bowling attack, which convincingly defended 208, in the absence of Dale Steyn today with Vernon Philander rising to the occasion like the star he is. Big applause for him as he shows the ball to the Newlands crowd.
16:51 Local Time, 14:51 GMT, 20:21 IST: South Africa are thrilled. They were given an almighty scare this morning, and there's this massive relief after pulling it off. What a Test match! A fitting start to what is expected to be a cracking series between the top two sides in the world.
Philander to Bumrah, out Caught by du Plessis!! Has he taken this? They're all celebrating, and the umpires seem fine with it. Fittingly, it's Philander. Vernon Philander, what a performance! Full at the stumps, and that curl on the ball again. Finds the outside edge which dies in front of second slip. Superb from du Plessis to dive forward for the grab. It's 1-0 South Africa. Bumrah c du Plessis b Philander 0(1)
Philander to Bumrah, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
Jasprit Bumrah, right handed bat, comes to the crease
Philander to Shami, out Caught by du Plessis!! Edged and taken. Five for Philander, who's still getting the ball to swing - as old as it is. Throws it up for the drive just outside off, Shami is too big of a tailender to resist and he nicks it behind where du Plessis takes a safe catch to his left. Shami c du Plessis b Philander 4(2) [4s-1]
Philander to Shami, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
Philander to Shami, FOUR, wow, what a start from Shami. Punches this over mid-on. Lovely shot
Mohammed Shami, right handed bat, comes to the crease
Philander to Ashwin, out Caught by de Kock!! This is it. The wicket which seals India's fate. And what an illustration of the kind of thinking bowler Philander is. He's been on fire today in terms of setting up the batsmen. Ashwin was constantly shuffling forward at him so he initially tried shortening his length. It didn't work, and now he brings up the keeper to keep him rooted. Forces him to play from the crease and Ashwin nicks it behind. Back of length outside off, Ashwin wants to cut, and it's on to be fair. But he just can't get hold of it. Ashwin c de Kock b Philander 37(53) [4s-5]