Images from the fifth and final day of the first Test between India and South Africa in Visakhapatnam, on Sunday.
Fast bowler Mohammed Shami picked up a five-wicket haul while left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took four in South Africa’s second innings to hand India a convincing 203-run victory, in the opening Test at Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
Chasing an improbable 395 for victory, the tourists were all out for 191 in the second session after resuming on 11 for one on the fifth and final day.
Shami returned figures of 5-35 while Jadeja picked up 4-87 with tailender Dane Piedt top-scoring for the touring side with 56, his maiden Test half-century.
It was the third straight win in as many matches for top-ranked side India in the World Test Championships. The hosts took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with the second Test starting at Pune from Thursday., in Visakhapatnam, on Sunday.
Chasing an improbable 395-run target, South Africa were expected to put up a fight like they did in the first innings but Shami's three-wicket burst and Jadeja's probing spell in the morning session left the visitors in complete shambles.
South Africa, resuming the day at 11 for one in nine overs, were 117 for 8 at lunch with Senuran Muthusamy (19 not out off 47) and Dane Piedt (32 not out off 56) delaying the inevitable.
The morning session was extended by 15 minutes for India to complete the formalities but Piedt and Muthusamy frustrated them with a 46-run stand for the ninth wicket, the best for South Africa in this tinnings.
The pitch, which had played fairly for the first four days with the odd ball surprising the batsman, turned tricky on day five. The spinners got the ball to turn sharply and the variable bounce also helped the pacers, as predicted by Cheteshwar Pujara on Saturday.
The collapse began in the second over of the day when Ravichandran Ashwin castled Theunis de Bruyn (10) with one that turned back sharply as the right-hander dragged it back on to his stumps.
With that dismissal, the 33-year-old became the joint fastest to 350 Test wickets, matching Sri Lanka legend Muttiah Muralitharan's feat in his 66th Test.
After Ashwin provided the early breakthrough, Shami castled Temba Bavuma (0), Faf du Plessis (13) and first innings centurion Quinton de Kock (0) in two short bursts to break the backbone of South African batting line-up.
Bavuma was done in by a full straight delivery which stayed low, while du Plessis paid the price for his judgement as he offered no shot to the incoming delivery which came back in sharply to crash into the stumps.
Shami got rid of de Kock with an inswinger as he bowled him through the gate, leaving the visitors reeling at 60 for five.
It became 70 for six when innings top-scorer and opener Aiden Markram did not get the required elevation and hit it back to Ravindra Jadeja, who took a brilliant one-handed reflex catch.
Jadeja was all over with South African tail, trapping Vernon Philander and Keshav Maharaj in front of the stumps off successive balls to make it 70 for eight in the 27th over, to claim three wickets in a single over.
Piedt and Senuran delayed the inevitable by going for their strokes. Piedt's slog sweep over midwicket went the distance for the 37th six of the game, breaking the record for most number of maximums in a Test match as he held on for 32 not out at the lunch break, while Senuran Muthusamy was on 19.
