OTD | India’s biggest innings win over South Africa in Tests came in Pune in 2019

Virat Kohli was undoubtedly the best Test captain India had. Even though India wasn’t successful in winning the WTC finals, he made sure the team did well in most of the important matches. 

In 2019, when South Africa came to tour India, in the 2nd Test match the visitors lost the game by an innings and 137 runs. In that match, Kohli scored 254 runs in 336 balls including 33 boundaries and two sixes. His batting prowess was evident that day when he batted for so long and went on to lead India to victory. 

The match started with India batting first. They scored 601 runs including Mayank Agarwal’s century, Chesteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja’s half-centuries. The batters wreaked havoc on the South African bowlers as they didn’t stop hitting them throughout the match. 

Kagiso Rabada was the standout bowler in the 1st innings as he claimed three wickets. When South Africa came to bat in the 1st innings, they could only manage to score 245 runs which weren’t even half the score which India did. Skipper Faf du Plessis scored 64 runs in 117 balls including nine boundaries and one six. 

Ravichandran Ashwin claimed four wickets and Umesh Yadav took three wickets. They dismantled the batting attack of South Africa. Since the visitors couldn’t avoid flow-on, they had to bat again. 

When they came to bat, they were again all out for 189 runs, losing the match by an innings and 137 runs. Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav claimed three wickets each and finished the batting lineup of South Africa. Virat Kohli won the Player of the Match for his brilliant batting performance. 

Disclaimer: This exclusive news is based on the author’s insights, analysis, and intuition. While reviewing this information, consider the points discussed and form your own conclusions.

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