Kumble and Smith sharing the trophy as the series levelled wih 1-1 draw.
15th April, 2008
South Africa in India 2008
South Africa's tour to India started in great anticipation as the hosts were riding high on a wave on confidence having just defeated the Australians in the Kangaroos' own backyard at the CB Series for the first time in 23 years.
On the other hand, the South Africans too came to the Indian sub-continent with confidence of their own. They just had back to back victories, both against the West Indies at home and Bangladesh away, and were eagerly awaiting the clash with confidence at an all time high.
In the CB Series at Australia, India tackled both the physical and mental side of the game, as the series was marred by controversies galore. But after the convincing win down under, Indian fans were confident that their team would make full use of home conditions against the touring South Africans.
The 3 test series saw a good contest between bat and ball along with the composure of both teams who fought tooth and nail to generate results.
The first test ended in a draw but was statistical highlights package as several records were created and broken during all the five days. Dravid entered the 10,000 Test runs club and Sehwag returned to his splendid touch with the score of 319, the highest Test score by an Indian batsman.
The second Test match saw India being thrashed badly by an innings and 90 runs due to some lackluster batting by the Indians and some good bowling by Steyn and company for the visitors. Steyn picked up 8 wickets in the match while Morkel picked up 4. The duo bowled out India for a paltry 76 in their first innings from which the Indians never seemed to recover.
The Third test would have given South Africa its second back to back series win in the Indian sub-continent. But India pulled off a good performance with veteran, Sourav Ganguly playing the rescue act when needed the most. The former India captain scored 87 in the first innings and then guided India home to victory in the second. Harbhajan Singh exploited the track conditions well picking up 7 wickets on a spinner-friendly wicket and conceded less than 2 runs per over in what was a fine bowling spell.
On a wicket that was more suited to the Indian spinners, it was the Indian bowling that did the opposition in as India came from 1-0 down in the series to eventually level it with a 1-1 draw. Both teams had their share of upsets and triumphs in what was a bittersweet end to a good series.
1st Test: M.A.Chindambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai - (March 26th - March 30th 2008)
Result: Match Drawn
The Chepauk Test ended in a tame draw but plenty of records galore, largely courtesy of Virender Sehwag. The 'Nawab of Najafgarh' amassed the quickest triple century ever in Test cricket and became the first Indian batter and the third overall to score two triple centuries. The 319 runs scored by Sehwag is the highest ever by an Indian batsman in Test matches.
Even Dravid crossed a personal milestone, by becoming the sixth batsman and third Indian ever to score 10000 Test runs. Experience this match on the Nirvana Cricket Center
2nd Test: Sadar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmadabad - (April 3rd - April 7th 2008)
Result: South Africa won by an innings and 90 runs
South Africa, a class apart from first ball to last, swept to a thoroughly deserved innings-and-90-run victory inside three days. Ganguly's 87 was not good enough as the South African pace duo of Steyn and Morkel ran into the Indian batting line-up.
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3rd Test: Green Park, Kanpur - (April 11th - April 15th 2008)
Result: India beat South Africa by 8 wickets
A valiant effort was put forward by the Indian bowlers who played on a pitched more suited to their style of bowling and which was subsequently difficult to comprehend by the South Africans. An anchored innings from Ganguly and a good bowling spell by Harbhajan saw India clinch victory and settle scores with their South African counterparts.
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