VIDEO: India vs South Africa 2015, 1st Test at Mohali Highlights

South Africa were off to a shaky start in the four-match Test series, labelled the ‘Freedom Trophy’, losing the first Test at Mohali by a margin of 108 runs. Chasing a target of 218 after bowling India out for 200, South Africa’s weakness against quality spin on turning tracks was exposed as the batsmen were decimated by the spin pair of Ravindra Jadeja (5 for 21) and Ravichandran Ashwin (3 for 39), getting bowled out for a paltry total of 109. Stiaan van Zyl was the top-scorer for the South Africans, scoring an 82-ball 36. AB de Villiers and Dean Elgar were dismissed for 16 each, while Simon Harmer (11) was the fourth South African batsman to move to double-figures.

India were in for some trouble as Shikhar Dhawan fell for a duck right after India elected to bat, before Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara put on a 63-run second wicket partnership in order to put India back on track. India kept losing wickets at regular intervals thereafter, as Dean Elgar took four wickets for 22 runs. Jadeja, who had a fantastic run both with bat and ball for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy 2015-16, added 38 runs in order to guide India past the 200-run mark.

South Africa, the batting order of which had been outscoring that of India so far in the series, capitulated to the quality Indian spin attack in Ashwin (5 for 51) and Jadeja (3 for 55). India were off to a great start in their second innings, cruising at 161 for 2 at one stage before losing their last eight wickets for just 39 runs, with Imran Tahir and Simon Harmer capturing four wickets apiece for 48 and 61 runs respectively.