When Virat Kohli and co. had stepped into South Africa, there was this air of expectancy around the team that had dominated their home season. It was a team that could challenge South Africa, no matter what the conditions, no matter what the pitch. Or that is how it seemed.
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While Virat Kohli was pretty confident of India’s chances, owing to the balance that this side had, there was a sense of apprehension amongst cricket fans(and critics) all over the world, as this Indian side hadn’t toured one of the big guns for a long time.
And India seemed a little short on practice, especially the batsmen, who were still throwing their hands at wide deliveries, something that had become ‘muscle memory’ for them after having played so long on those flat pitches in India.
Hardik Pandya salvaged some pride for India by dishing out that outrageous counter attacking innings after India were tottering in the first innings.
But that one strong partnership in the first innings between ABD and Faf du Plesis proved to be the difference, as the duo brought about a brilliant mix of attacking and cautious cricket to take the game away from India.
The Indian bowlers kept India in the game, pitching the ball in the right areas and scripting a brilliant comeback in the second innings to restrict South Africa to just 130.
The Indian batsmen had a tough task on hand, with 208 to get in these seaming conditions, and while the start from Vijay and Dhawan was a confident one, the middle order just couldn’t string any partnerships together, which caused India’s downfall in a huge way.
Vernon Philander was wonderful with the ball in both innings, making the ball talk and constantly asking questions off the Indian batsman.
Twitter didn’t hold back in criticising the Indian players, especially the batsmen, who didn’t quite apply themselves in the testing South African conditions.
Check out the best tweets:
