Nandre Burger's outstanding performance, along with a well-rounded effort from South Africa, led to a decisive victory by an innings and 32 runs for the Proteas over India in the first Test at the SuperSport Park on Thursday.
Burger's deadly bouncers and accurate bowling forced the Indian batters into a difficult position.
The match, which appeared likely to continue into a fourth day, ended unexpectedly on the third day. India's batsmen were outmatched by South Africa's fast bowlers, with Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, and Burger tearing through India's batting order.
Virat Kohli was the only batter who was able to score runs on a challenging pitch, while the other batters struggled to do so.
Following a disappointing beginning to their second turn at bat, South Africa made a strong impact against India by swiftly dismissing Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul.
After Burger dismissed Ravichandran Ashwin without scoring, India's destiny was effectively determined.
Jasprit Bumrah's runout, resulting from a remarkable effort by Dean Elgar in the field, brought about a sense of disappointment. A successful review by the South African team led to Mohammed Siraj being caught behind by the wicketkeeper.
Prasidh Krishna fought valiantly, but Jansen outperformed Kohli (76), leading to India's defeat within the initial three days.
Earlier today, India's captain Rohit Sharma continued to struggle in South Africa, particularly against Kagiso Rabada. Rohit was left confused by Rabada's delivery, which angled inwards, and he was unable to anticipate the trajectory, leading to the ball hitting the stumps.
The experienced right-handed batsman was dismissed without scoring after facing eight balls, making it his seventh dismissal in 11 innings against Rabada.
Yashasvi Jaiswal attempted to avoid the delivery, but the ball deflected off his glove and directly into the wicketkeeper's hands.
Shubman Gill seemed ready to have a substantial innings, but his effort to hit a shot straight down the line was unsuccessful. Marco Jansen claimed his wicket, sending Gill back to the pavilion after scoring 26 runs off 37 balls. This left India trailing by 101 runs.
The away team seemed well-positioned to wrap up South Africa's innings swiftly after taking their 7th wicket in the opening session.
The lower-order batsmen, along with Jansen, added a few more runs, bringing their total to 408. Jasprit Bumrah dismissed the last two batsmen, leaving Jansen not out on 84*.
He was applauded by the fans as he entered the dressing room, and Dean Elgar greeted him before he went inside.
In the earlier part of the game, Elgar's final series displayed a great blend of aggression and composure.
The southpaw batsman made 185 runs from 287 balls, including 28 boundaries. Shardul Thakur dismissed the batsman before he could reach 200 runs.
India started the session strongly as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj maintained a tight grip at the beginning, prompting the batsmen to take shots and ultimately outplaying them.
Siraj broke through David Bedingham's defense, sending him back after scoring 56 runs. Prasidh Krishna then joined the attack and got Kyle Verreynne out for 4 runs. The wicketkeeper-batsman tried to cut the ball but ended up gloving it straight to KL Rahul behind the stumps.
From there, Elgar and Jansen formed a 111-run partnership that once again turned the game in favor of the Proteas.
Thakur achieved the crucial breakthrough, and a couple of overs later, Ashwin put an end to Gerald Coetzee's brief innings of scoring 19 runs off 18 balls.
In general, Shardul and Prasidh conceded a lot of runs, while Jansen's impressive Test score has strengthened South Africa's position in the first Test.
In the opening Test, South Africa thoroughly controlled the game. Rabada's five-wicket performance pushed India into a defensive position. Despite KL Rahul's aggressive century, Elgar's stunning 185 stole the spotlight.
