IND VS RSA - 1st Test, South Africa tour of India, 2025

The World Test Champions have taken a 1-0 lead in this 2-match series. 10 wins in 11 Test matches for captain Temba Bavuma. He was brilliant with bat in the second innings and his captaincy was astute as well. "Never give up" seems to be the mantra of this South African side. They came from behind to square the series in Pakistan. Here, they were the underdogs for majority of the match but never allowed the game to drift away from them. In Rabada's absence, Jansen stepped up and Simon Harmer bowled beautifully throughout the Test match. India certainly missed the services of their captain who retired hurt for 4 in the first innings due to a neck spasm which ruled him out of this Test. But the pitch will certainly be a talking point as this Test match got over in two and a half days. There was uneven bounce right from the first over and batting got tougher as the game progressed. This is still a largely inexperienced line-up and it'll be interesting to see if India persist with the same combination (picking all-rounders over specialist batters). On that note, it's time to bid goodbye. The second Test in Guwahati starts on Saturday (22nd November) and we'll see you there...

Simon Harmer | Player of the Match: I felt today it probably got a little bit flatter as the ball got softer (on the pitch). It wasn't exploding as much. So I was asking myself some hard questions. But nice to contribute. I've been here before (in India), and it was a dark place. Losing back-to-back test matches here for four tests, losing three. So to get here, to be in this position, to be behind the eight ball again, and for the team to fight the way that they did, it just shows where this group is at, what they're capable of, and the belief that they have. I'm not a stats man, I'm happy with the win. Obviously, still another Test to go in the series, but we'll definitely enjoy this and stay with this because they don't come around that often. I knew that I needed to bowl well. I think it was the same when we were batting. We felt like we were one partnership away from getting ourselves into the game. And I think it was the same with the ball in hand. We knew that they were only one partnership away from getting really close. So I just needed to try and put as many balls in the right area and trust that the wicket would do its thing. I think I missed quite a bit today. I was quite lucky with Jurel's wicket. And even Jadeja and Pant's wickets, I thought they weren't the greatest balls. But sometimes, you bowl badly and get wickets. And sometimes, you bowl well and don't. So just incredibly happy to be standing in this position with a win behind us. Not at all (on missing the 5-wicket haul). I was so confused at the end. I wasn't aware that Shubman wasn't going to be batting. So when Kesh was running and celebrating, I was like, what's going on here? But yeah, I think the personal accolades are trumped by a team's success. I know it's so cliche. I'll bleed for the team. And I'm more than happy to walk away with a four. At the end of the day, if you get overawed, you can get yourself into a tricky situation. I think there we just needed to make sure that we put the ball in the right area. Because as you saw with the two openers, there was enough in the wicket with the new ball. And with the ball turning as well, you've got to allow them to make the mistakes. So they had to make the play. And I think the boys as a unit bowled incredibly well.

Temba Bavuma: Very exciting. you want to be a part of those types of games and obviously be on the right side of the result. I think we tried to hold our ground as much as we could. We knew it was going to be tough with the bat, it was tough for us, but we needed to exploit what was there. I think we guys did that beautifully. Fortunately things have worked out quite well. Our bowlers got us back into the game, but that partnership with Bosch, I think a little bit with Marco as well, at the end of the day, just gave a little bit of impetus that we could play a little bit better this morning. It wasn't as extreme, but we were able to get a partnership. We tried to stay in the game as much as we could. It's not every time that you score 120-125 and you feel that that's a winning score. It was just a case of staying in the game and to keep believing. You're as good as your players really. Some of the bad stats, I give it to the players. From a batting point of view, I'm just comfortable with myself, with my technique, not to worry about triggering and all those type of things. I have a decent understanding of the game. I've come here to India wanting to do well. I don't have the greatest of records when it comes to these conditions. So it's a bit of that exuberance on my side to see myself learning these conditions and implement all the little things that I'm trying and keep contributing for the team. Opening up the leg a little bit (helped in the second innings). It was just an awareness the way I played it. Fortunately, I have played a few innings, so I understand a little bit of adjustments that you need to make. And luck, we all need luck. We didn't have KG today. He's our leader of the team. Obviously, in these conditions, we have Simon, we have Kesh, and they are becoming a formidable partnership. So I think that bowling attack of ours is definitely boosted by those two. (On the catch to dismiss Axar) It wasn't easy. I'm just glad I got a hand to it. Crucial moment again. Axar, he had momentum on his side and we kind of know how the Indian batters play. When they have momentum, they go even harder. So fortunately, he was able to make a mistake. I was able to grab him with my small hands. Those are those moments that you want to be a part of. You don't want to give it to someone else. You want to be doing it for the team.

Rishabh Pant: A game like this, you can't dwell into it too much. We should've been able to chase this score. The pressure built on us in the second innings and we weren't able to capitalise. Temba and Bosch had a brilliant partnership and that got them back into the game. There was help on the wicket, a score like 120 can be tricky, but as a team we should be able to soak in the pressure and capitalise. Haven't thought about it (improvements?), the match has just finished, will come back strong.

Stats by Deepu Narayanan

Simon Harmer in Tests in India
1/51
4/61
4/78
1/64
4/30
4/21

Lowest targets India failed to chase down
120 vs WI Bridgetown 1997
124 vs SA Eden Gardens 2025
147 vs NZ Wankhede 2024
176 vs SL Galle 2015
193 vs Eng Lord’s 2025
194 vs Eng Edgbaston 201

Lowest target successfully defended by South Africa
117 vs Aus Sydney 1994
124 vs Ind Eden Gardens 2025
146 vs Pak Faisalabad 1997
177 vs SL Kandy 2000

Lowest target successfully defended in Tests in India
107 Ind vs Aus Wankhede 2004
124 SA vs Ind Eden Gardens 2025
147 NZ vs Ind Wankhede 2024
170 Ind vs SA Ahmedabad 1996

Keshav Maharaj - I felt a little bit of nerves. It's hard to catch your breath with that sun setting, tried to be clear on my plans. Yeah, luckily I got the reward and a brilliant catch by Temba (on being first smashed by Axar and then taking his wicket). He was phenomenal (on Simon Harmer). He showed why he's got 1,000 first-half wickets. It's a privilege to bowl alongside him. It's been a brilliant feeling. There was a real hunger and desire to cross over the line. Very much so (on if the win in Pakistan set them up well for this tour). I think we take a lot of confidence, but we know the task at hand here in India. It's a different ball game when you come here. The guys are highly skilled, conditions are very different, but, you know, for our team to come a long way and tick the first box of this tour has been a phenomenal effort.  I think we know there's always a ball with your name on it, so consistency is key, and Simon showed it a lot better than I did in this Test, but also the fact that Temba showed us and gave us the field sets to allow us to ball the way we wanted to, one must give a lot of credit to him as well. Like I said, it's probably the one assignment that we hadn't ticked from a box perspective ( a Test win in India), but, you know, it's our first leg forward, we can be really, really, really proud of what we've achieved today.

When all the focus was on the spinners, it was Marco Jansen's double-strike to send both the Indian openers packing that set the tone for the Proteas. Jurel and Washington looked to be busy after lunch and it seemed like they had things under control. But, you're never in as a batter on this deck and Jurel fell to a rank long-hop from Harmer. The offie, just like the first innings, was super accurate after that. The South Africans kept things tight and Pant succumbed under pressure. Jadeja and Washington kept India's hopes alive as they kept the scoreboard ticking. But the former was trapped lbw by Harmer. Bavuma turned to Markram and that turned out to be a masterstroke as had Washington (the only batter to bat 50+ deliveries this Test) caught in the slip. Axar was left too much to do and he went after Maharaj - 4 6 0 6 - but the left-arm spinner had the last laugh as he induced the miscue and then wrapped up the proceedings by picking the final wicket.

14:14 Local Time, 08:44 GMT, 14:14 IST: A famous win for the Proteas! An incredible turnaround from the visitors after getting bundled out for 159 on the opening day after opting to bat. Their bowlers were brilliant yesterday, especially Harmer, and India could only muster a slender lead of 30 runs. South Africa, in the second essay were reduced to 93/7 at stumps on day two and the hosts were surely the favourites this morning. Captain Temba Bavuma, on this tough pitch, batted marvellously against the Indian spinners to become the only batter in this Test match to record a fifty. His knock ensured that South Africa added 60 runs to the overnight score and set India a target in excess of 120 which was always going to be tricky.

Maharaj to Siraj, out Caught by Markram!! Two in two for Maharaj and South Africa win by 30 runs! Tossed up ball around off from round the wicket and Siraj gets forward to block. The ball spins to catch the outside edge and Markram crouches low to snaffle it with both hands. Incredible scenes here at the Eden Gardens. Keshav Maharaj goes off on a celebratory run, Bavuma is running and punching the air in delight. Rabada, meanwhile, sprints in to join and congratulate his team-mates. Siraj c Markram b Maharaj 0(1)

Maharaj to Siraj, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

South Africans are cock-a-hoop as Siraj is caught at slip.

Mohammed Siraj, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Gill is not at the ground and won't be available to bat. So, this is the last pair

Maharaj to Axar, out Caught by Bavuma!! Maharaj has the last laugh! 86.1kph, slower and wider, Axar gets down to slogsweep but the timing goes awry as the bat turns at the point of impact. The ball goes many a mile in the air and Bavuma runs back from midwicket. He stays side-on, keeps his eyes on the ball and makes a very tough catch look so easy. Brilliant from the South African captain. Axar c Bavuma b Maharaj 26(17) [4s-1 6s-2]

Maharaj to Axar, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Maharaj to Axar, SIX, 88.2kph, full and in the slot, Axar bends his back leg as he gets under it and bludgeons it over long-on