{"id":16201,"date":"2025-11-26T14:54:59","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T12:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/sa-conquer-the-final-frontier-in-india-to-underline-test-credentials\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:31:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:31:28","slug":"sa-conquer-the-final-frontier-in-india-to-underline-test-credentials","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/sa-conquer-the-final-frontier-in-india-to-underline-test-credentials\/","title":{"rendered":"SA conquer the &#8216;final frontier&#8217; in India to underline test credentials"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Beating India in their backyard is considered test cricket&#8217;s biggest challenge, and Temba Bavuma&#8217;s men aced it with a 2-0 series sweep, which will dispel any doubt about South Africa&#8217;s (SA) credentials as world champions in the long format.<\/div>\n<div>The outcry over the minefield of a pitch in Kolkata overshadowed their triumph inside three days in the series opener, SA\u2019s first test win in India since 2010.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Besides, India were one batter short in that low-scoring match after home captain Shubman Gill had to retire hurt with a neck injury, which threw him out of the rest of the series.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">Nothing, however, could take the sheen off Proteas\u2019 memorable victory in the first-ever test in Guwahati where the Proteas handed out a 408-run shellacking, India&#8217;s biggest test defeat in terms of runs.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Proteas&#8217; first test series victory in India in 25 years is even more remarkable as it was achieved without pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada, who missed both tests with a rib injury.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>India stood as what former Australia captain Steve Waugh famously called test cricket&#8217;s &#8216;final frontier&#8217; for not losing a home series for 12 years until New Zealand snapped that streak late last year.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Whitewashing them consolidates SA&#8217;s second position in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings, behind Australia whom they beat in the WTC final in June.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>It also proves their famous victory at Lord&#8217;s was no fluke.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;These are the type of things that we&#8217;re working towards and dreaming of,&#8221; Bavuma said on Wednesday.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;I think what makes it sweeter for some of us within the group is the fact that we&#8217;ve been on the other side of the result. We&#8217;ve had dark days, and we know how tough it can be. I think for this group of gentlemen, again, another incredible achievement.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>SA Coach Shukri Conrad ruffled some local feathers when he said they wanted to make India &#8220;grovel&#8221; in Guwahati but their dominance was unmistakable.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Spin-bowling all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy came off the bench to smash the only hundred of the series, player-of-the-series Simon Harmer delivered six second-innings wickets, Marco Jansen lit up the Barsapara Cricket Stadium with his all-round brilliance and Aiden Markram put up a catching masterclass, grabbing a record nine of them.<\/div>\n<div>In contrast, it would be introspection time for India, who have now slipped to fifth place, behind Pakistan, in the WTC standings.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u2014Reuters\u2014<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15986,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-16201","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"This is Proteas' first test series victory in India in 25 years.","published_date":null,"news_description":"This is Proteas' first test series victory in India in 25 years.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/16201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/16201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20110,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/16201\/revisions\/20110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=16201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}