INDIA MADE amends for the Ahmedabad debacle by thrashing South Africa by eight wickets, within three days in a dramatic third and final cricket Test to level the three-match series 1-1 on April 13 (Sunday).

 

After two days of pulsating battle between bat and ball on an under-prepared Green Park track, the Indians tilted the balance decisively in their favour with a splendid all-round display to ensure that their impressive track record at home was kept intact.

 

The script could not have unfolded in a more heartening way for the hosts, as they first took a crucial 60-run first innings lead by scoring 325 and then bowled out South Africa for a paltry 121 in just 55.5 overs in their second innings.

 

Needing 62 runs for victory, the Indians lost Virender Sehwag (22) and Wasim Jaffer (10), but former captains Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid steered the team home.

 

Rahul Dravid hit the winning runs by sweeping Paul Harris to the boundary at the fag end of the day, triggering off celebrations in the Indian dressing room.

 

None of the South African batsmen could hang around for long on the deteriorating surface, making the defiant 46-run last wicket partnership between S Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma all the more important.

 

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was the pick of the Indian bowlers with 4-44, while Virender Sehwag returned with career-best Test figures of 8.5-2-12-3.