A class act by Shami, says Kohli

India beat South Africa by 113 runs in the opening Test to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series here on Thursday.
Set a stiff target of 305, South Africa were bowled out for 191 just after lunch in their second innings on the fifth and final day of the series opener at the SuperSport Park. The hosts were 182 for seven at lunch, trailing by 123 runs. South Africa had finished the fourth day at 94 for four with skipper Dean Elgar unbeaten on 52 after Indian batters caved in on a track with uneven bounce, getting all out for 174 in just 50.3 overs.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami finished with three wickets apiece while there were two apiece for Mohammed Siraj and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Kohli, India captain, said, ‘ Got off to the perfect start. Have to understand one day was washed out – shows how well we played. It’s always a difficult place to play against SA (Centurion). The discipline that the batters showed. Winning the toss, batting first overseas is a tough challenge. Credit to Mayank and KL the way they set it up. We knew we were in pole position with anything over 300-320. Knew the bowlers will do the job. Spoke about it in the change room – the fact he didn’t bowl much in the first innings, it allowed SA to get around 40 more runs (Bumrah). Just the way these guys bowl together has been a hallmark of our team getting a result in difficult situations. Absolutely world class talent (Shami). For me he’s in the best three seamers in the world at the moment. His strong wrist, his seam position and his ability to hit a length consistently.

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