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What Happened When India Last Faced South Africa At Centurion In Test Cricket 

image-lqku5u8kJasprit Bumrah claimed five wickets during 2021 Centurion Test (AP)

Team India is about to embark on a fresh Test challenge in South Africa, by going up against the hosts at Centurion on December 26. While the Indian team has not registered a single Test series win on South African shores, the current side under Rohit Sharma’s leadership will be aiming to justify their number one Test ICC rankings with a historic outcome this time around.

As Sharma and co. brace themselves for the grueling series that lies ahead them, here at OneCricket, we take a look back at what happened when the last time these two red-ball titans clashed at Centurion Park for a Test match.

When India faced SA at Centurion in 2021

Under Virat Kohli, the Indian team toured South Africa for a three-match Test series in late December 2021. Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Indian openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal saw off the shine of the new-ball with their tactical 117-run partnership, where the latter contributed 60 valuable runs from his end.

Rahul, on the other end, washed up 260 deliveries to top-score in the innings with 123. Captain Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane also slapped handy contributions before a lower-order collapse orchestrated by Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada folded up India for 327 in their first innings.

In response, hosts South Africa lost four early wickets at the hands of Indian pace trio Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami before fighting knocks from Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock guided the Proteas past the 100-run mark.

Bavuma’s dismissal for 52 worsened South Africa’s troubles at 144-7, however, valiant contributions from the tail limited India’s first-innings lead to 130 runs. Shami claimed five wickets in the innings, while Bumrah and Shardul Thakur pocketed two wickets each.

image-lqkva86tMohammed Shami claimed 5-44 in the first South African innings (AP)

India, emboldened by their 130-run halfway advantage, failed to replicate their first-innings batting success as they were dismantled by Kagiso Rabada (4-42) and Marco Jansen (4-55) for just 174 in 50.3 overs. 

Centurion KL Rahul scored 23 in the innings while wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant top-scored with a run-a-ball 34, setting South Africa a daunting fourth-innings task of 305 runs.

The Proteas never threatened to chase down the target, as their top-order once again crumbled in front of Shami, Siraj and Bumrah, reaching 94-4 by stumps on Day 4.

Captain Dean Elgar fought hard for his 77, but three-fers from Shami and Bumrah and two wickets apiece for Siraj and Ravichandran Ashwin ensured South Africa fell 113 runs short of their target.

Opening batsman KL Rahul was adjudged as ‘Player of the Match’ for his 123-run effort in the first innings, resulting in India’s only fourth Test win in South Africa.

The outcome also took India 1-0 ahead in their three-match series. Unfortunately for Virat Kohli and co., the hosts fought back in the subsequent two Tests to seal the series by a 2-1 margin.