India's spinners have tied South Africa's batsmen in knots to give the hosts a 108-run victory in the bowler-dominated first Test in Mohali.
Left-armer Ravindra Jadeja grabbed five wickets and offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin three as the Proteas, set a victory target of 218, were shot out for 109 after tea on the third day.
Both bowlers finished with eight wickets in the low-scoring match played on a dusty, dry pitch at I.S. Bindra stadium.
Indian spinners, in fact, claimed 19 of the 20 South African scalps.
The Proteas were reduced to 6-60 before Stiaan van Zyl, who top-scored with 36, and Simon Harmer (11) put on 42 for the seventh wicket.
Seven batsmen failed to reach double digits, leaving the top-ranked Proteas much to ponder ahead of the second Test in the four-match series starting in Bangalore on November 14.
Earlier, South African spinners Harmer and Imran Tahir claimed four wickets each to rip through India's batting in the morning session.
India, who started the third day at 2-125 in their second innings, moved to 2-161 before a meltdown saw them lose their last eight wickets for 39.
South Africa fared worse when they batted a second time on a wicket that proved a batsman's nightmare.
The gamble to open with tailender Vernon Philander backfired when the fast bowler was leg-before to Jadeja for one in the second over.
Ashwin, who had taken five wickets in the first innings, struck in the third over as Faf du Plessis edged an easy catch to Ajinkya Rahane in the slips.
From 2-9, the Proteas became 4-32 as Jadeja bowled skipper Hashim Amla for no score and star batsman AB de Villiers (16) also found his stumps shattered by leg-spinner Amit Mishra.
The wickets continued to tumble as opener Dean Elgar (16) top-edged an intended pull off seamer Varun Aaron and spooned an easy catch to Indian captain Virat Kohli at mid-on.
In the morning, the loss of three top-order batsmen in the space of three runs triggered India's collapse even though the Proteas fielded without injured pace spearhead Dale Steyn.
The overnight pair of Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli batted through the first hour to take their third wicket stand to 66 runs.
Medium-pacer van Zyl, the sixth bowler summoned by Amla, broke the threatening partnership soon after the drinks interval by having Kohli caught behind for 29.
Share
