The Indian cricket team beat South Africa by a huge margin of 113 runs in the first test match at Centurion today and won their third Boxing Day test match in a row. India had won their last two Boxing Day games against Australia in 2018 and 2020 respectively, and they did it a third time in a row against the Proteas.
Coming into the 5th day of the test match earlier today, the game was slightly tilted in India’s favor, but South Africa were not completely out of it, as they needed 211 runs and one big partnership could have got the game back in balance.
The way the two South African batsmen started in the morning, it seemed as if India might be in for a stiff challenge, but once Jasprit Bumrah broke the 5th wicket partnership between Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma, India just did not let the hosts recover again.
Quinton de Kock came out and played a few aggressive shots, but Mohammed Siraj worked him over from around the wicket and then India were into the allrounders and the tail. South Africa lost their last 3 wickets inside 4 overs after the lunch break, as India registered their 4th overseas test victory in the current calendar year.
Interestingly, Centurion was a venue where South Africa had not lost a test match for the last 7 years and in the history of this ground, no team had ever beaten South Africa here, apart from England and Australia. For India to breach this fortress of South Africa, and the ease with which they did it, was remarkable.
Indian fans were overjoyed with India’s clinical performance in this Boxing Day test
The Indian fans on twitter were ecstatic with the victory today, as some of them called it India’s best-ever year in test cricket. The fans heaped praise on two of the heroes of the victory, KL Rahul with the bat and Mohammed Shami with the ball and also, the captain Virat Kohli whose vision shaped the Indian test team after MS Dhoni retired in 2014.
KL Rahul was declared the player of the match for his hundred in the first innings, but both him and Virat Kohli stressed the importance of Shami’s performance with the ball in the post-match presentation. Kohli called Shami one of the best 3 seamers in the world and said he always gets a “little bit extra” from the surface than any other bowler.
Here is how the Indian fans reacted on Twitter as India won their third Boxing Day test in a row –
India in last 3 Boxing day Test:
Advertisement2018: Beat Aus at MCG
2020: Beat Aus at MCG
2021: Beat SA at Centurion— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) December 30, 2021
Virat Kohli becomes first captain to win two boxing day text matches ~
30 December 2018 and 2021 , special day !! pic.twitter.com/z0FKXyVtSC
— “ (@KohlifiedGal) December 30, 2021
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Skipper Virat Kohli became the first captain to win teo boxing day Test & first Asian skipper to win Test mach at Centurion.!One of the best Test captain India has produced ever.!
— Deep Point (@ittzz_spidey) December 30, 2021
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Yes You are looking at the only Indian Captain in the History to win 2 Boxing Day Test Matches ๐ pic.twitter.com/JgyZ7BONPA
— Dr. Stefan Salvatore (Fแดแดแดแดs) (@KohliThala) December 30, 2021
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Centurion breached. India finish 2021 on a another high. Only third team after England (infamous incident) and Australia to win in Centurion. From Boxing Day to Boxing Day, this has been a stunning year for this Test team.
— Venkata Krishna B (@venkatatweets) December 30, 2021
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5pm special show. 2021: Indian Test Cricketโs best ever year? Tell me what you think and join me. Gabba to Centurion and before that Boxing Day MCG what 12 months it has been!
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) December 30, 2021
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Virat Kohli is the first Indian captain to win two boxing day test matches – best Test captain in Indian cricket history – he is sealing it every single time.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 30, 2021
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First indian captain to win two boxing day test matches.
First Asian captain to win a test match at centurion. ๐๐ป pic.twitter.com/4LHxicqfRT— . (@Dhanushvk_) December 30, 2021
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OTD in 2018,@imVkohli became the first Indian captain to win a boxing day test match at MCG.
And also became the highest Indian run getter in overseas tests in a calendar year, scoring 82 on Day 2 of the test match. pic.twitter.com/ZPbvEH8lqp— ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ง. (@imnotVkohli) December 30, 2021
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Virat Kohli becomes the first Indian captain in history to win two Boxing Day Test matches.#INDvsSA
— charan chowdary ๐ (@_charanchowdary) December 30, 2021
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