South Africa ended a 25-year wait for a Test series victory in India, completing a 2-0 whitewash with a comprehensive performance on the final day in Guwahati. Chasing what seemed to be a mathematically impossible target of 549 runs, India’s batting lineup collapsed under sustained pressure, folding for just 140 in the first session of Day 5.
The 408-run defeat marks the biggest fall for the hosts, who have now suffered their second home series loss in 12 months after previously going unbeaten for over a decade.
Off-spinner Simon Harmer ran a smilar script to that of the first test, claiming a five-wicket haul to finish with nine wickets for the match. Harmer utilized flight and drift to dismantle the Indian middle order, accounting for key wickets including KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, and Rishabh Pant.
He was ably supported by Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy, ensuring India never built momentum despite a counter-attacking half-century from Ravindra Jadeja.
The victory was embellished by a world-record fielding performance from Aiden Markram. The South African claimed his ninth catch of the match to dismiss Washington Sundar off Harmer’s bowling, surpassing the previous Test record of eight catches held by Ajinkya Rahane.
The match concluded fittingly with another stunning piece of fielding, as Marco Jansen ran back from mid-on to take a spectacular one-handed catch to dismiss Mohammed Siraj, sealing the game.
India’s resistance was limited to a gritty knock from Sai Sudharsan and Jadeja’s aggressive fifty. Sudharsan stood the longest vigil by an Indian batter in the series, of 135 deliveries, before edging Muthusamy to the slips.
Jadeja employed the sweep shot effectively to disrupt the bowlers’ lengths, reaching his fifty before being stumped off Maharaj while attempting to accelerate. Their efforts, however, only delayed the inevitable as wickets fell in clusters around them.
This stood as a vindication for South Africa's decision to delay their declaration on Day 4, a strategy head coach Shukri Conrad described as an attempt to mentally exhaust the opposition. "We wanted the Indians to spend as much time on their feet out in the field, we wanted them to really grovel... bat them completely out the game," Conrad explained.
He added that the goal was to ensure India had to "come and survive" against a fresh ball and fading light, a tactic that left the hosts with no realistic path to victory.
South Africa’s triumph secured them a full 12 points in the World Test Championship and highlighted the effectiveness of their balanced attack. Conrad noted that the team has "thrown our weight behind spin bowlers," a shift from their traditional reliance on pace that proved decisive in subcontinental conditions.
"I'd like to think that the young spinners back home are saying there's hope for us now," Conrad said, as the Proteas celebrated their first Test series win in India since 2000.