INDIA were made to wait a tad longer for the winning moment by centurion Laura Wolvaardt, but they eventually went past the line convincingly by 10 wickets on the fourth and final day of the one-off women's Test against South Africa at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Monday (1).
The India eves' victory came just two days after the country's men's cricket team defeated South Africa by seven runs in the final of the T20 World Cup in the West Indies.
In the Test, India were required to chase a modest 37 after bowling out South Africa for 373 in their second innings and the hosts accomplished the task in 9.2 overs without losing a wicket. The opening duo of Shubha Satheesh (13 not out) and Shafali Verma (24 not out) steered their side home comfortably.
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India had declared their first innings closed at a mammoth 603 for six and the visitors were made to follow on after scoring 266 in their first innings. They came up with a more determined effort in the second essay to post 373 but it was never going to be enough to deny the hosts victory.
This is India's second 10-wicket triumph in Tests after their win over the Proteas by an identical margin at Paarl in 2002 under the captaincy of Anjum Chopra.
Read: India clinch T20 World Cup, beat South Africa in seesaw final
Resuming at the overnight 232 for two on the fourth day, and trailing India by 105 runs, captain Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp appeared to be in good touch.
The former brought up her maiden Test century, also becoming the first woman batter to score a Test, one-day and T20I ton in the same year.
However, Kapp was soon trapped leg-before by Deepti Sharma for 31, while Sneh Rana ousted Delmi Tucker for a duck as the tourists slipped to 266 for four.
With still work to be done for the South Africans to take the lead, Wolvaardt tried to anchor the innings but was dismissed for 122 when Rajeshwari Gayakwad trapped her in front to reduce the visitors 281 for five.
But the Proteas marched on and went past the 300-run mark, their highest team total in Tests against the Indians.
India opener Shafali Verma slammed 205 while her partner Smriti Mandhana made 149 to give India a solid foundation to enforce the win.
(With PTI inputs)
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