5 Classic encounters between India and South Africa
Here we recall those classic encounters ahead of the three-match Test series.
4. 1st Test at Johannesburg, Dec 15-18, 2006
India always had a history of performing poorly in the first Test of an overseas tour as they used to take time to adapt to the alien conditions. Even in 2006, nobody gave them a chance of even competing in the first Test given their record earlier in the country. The score of 249 in the first innings after winning the toss also underlined their struggles in South Africa. But S Sreesanth pitched the ball in right areas with pace and surprised the hosts batters. He scalped a sensational five-wicket haul to bundle out the opposition for a paltry total of 84.
India was boosted by a first innings lead and they added 236 more to that score and set the stiff target of 402 runs in front of South Africa. The chase was also going to create problems for the Proteas as India possessed the bowlers like Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble and Sreesanth in their line-up.
The trio hunted together and picked three wickets each eventually bowling out the hosts for just 278 runs. They had taken the lead of 1-0 in the three-match series and broken the trend of faring poorly in their first game of the series.
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