Ashwin propels India to historic 3-0 series win over South Africa

12/07/2015

Ravinchandran Ashwin took yet another fifer to wear down a resolute South African defence on the fifth day of the final Test to lead India to a 3-0 series victory in the Freedom series at the Kotla, Delhi. Ajinkya Rahane laid the foundation with a century each in both innings before the bowlers finished the job for the hosts, who now climb up to second spot in ICC's Test rankings.

Brief scores: India 334 & 267/5d; South Africa 121 & 143 in 143.1 overs (de Villiers 43, Bavuma 34; Ashwin 5/61, Yadav 3/9)

South Africa started the day at 72/2 with AB de Villiers and Hasim Amla holding the fort. Virat Kohli threw the kitchen sink at the pair - even Cheteshwar Pujara got a chance as he bowled for the first time in international cricket. But the calmness and the assurance with which Amla and de Villiers were batting looked ominous for India.

Finally in the 85th over, Ravindra Jadeja produced the breakthrough as the ball finally managed to sneak past Amla's defence. May be it was the new ball, which skidded on a bit faster, or may be it was slightly angled bat of Amla, the ball spun past his bat and hit the top of the off-stump. Regardless, the celebration which followed the dismissal was euphoric.

Amla's 25 runs were inconsequential - more importantly he had managed to survive for 244 deliveries.

Amla's dismissal might have raised hopes for a turn in fortunes for the Indian bowlers, but Faf du Plessis took over Amla's mantle and played 53 deliveries before scoring his first run. AB de Villiers, at the other end, was looking as assured as ever - that is until he faced Umesh Yadav's second spell of the day.

The Indian fast bowler managed to extract perilous bounce from good length deliveries. Yadav managed to strike de Villiers' hand twice, causing a minor injury that brought the South African physio on to the pitch. The 31-year-old chose to carry on though despite the injury.

Jadeja dismissed du Plessis in the second session, and that exposed the vulnerable lower middle order of South Africa. Just before the dismissal, the left-arm spinner beat du Plessis with a delivery which spun sharply to seed just enough doubt in du Plessis' mind. Du Plessis played inside the line of the ball in the next delivery, only for it to not turn at all and strike him plumb in front of the wicket.

Suddenly with Amla and du Plessis back in the hut, the pitch seemed a lot harder to bat on. The footmarks were coming into life and the spinners were extracting sharp turns. To make matters worse, the bowlers were extracting uneven bounce, which troubled even de Villiers.

Few overs later, Ashwin trapped JP Duminy before the stumps with a delivery that pitched on the leg stump and straightened.

South African keeper Dane Vilas showed exactly how difficult the track is to bat on, and how brilliantly de Villiers at the other end was batting. The 30-year-old looked vulnerable from the moment he stepped on to the pitch and did not inspire a lot of confidence. De Villiers now had the extra task of protecting his partners as well.

Umesh Yadav, at the other end, was extracting reverse swing and was in the middle of a fantastic spell of fast bowling. He dismissed Vilas with an off-cutter, which the South African edged onto his stumps.

Just two deliveries later, India got the big wicket they were so desperately looking for. Ashwin extracted a lot of bounce from a delivery which pitched on off-stump, and all de Villiers could do was glove it to Jadeja at leg slip.

After de Villiers epic 345- ball saga came to an end, an Indian victory was only a matter of time. Umesh Yadav cleaned up the tail-enders and ended the innings with three wickets. It was Ashwin, however, who deservedly picked up the last wicket.

Ravichandran Ashwin was awarded the Man of the Series award for his four five-wicket hauls in as many Tests in the series. Ashwin is now in elite company for the maximum Man of the series awards by an Indian – only Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag hold as many as five.

Ajinkya Rahane won the Man of the match award for his two stellar centuries – remarkably the only two centuries in the tournament.