| South African cricket team in India in 2015–16 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  | ||
| India | South Africa | ||
| Dates | 29 September 2015 – 7 December 2015 | ||
| Captains | Virat Kohli(Tests) MS Dhoni(ODIs, T20Is) | Hashim Amla(Tests) AB de Villiers(ODIs) Faf du Plessis(T20Is) | |
| Test series | |||
| Result | India won the 4-match series 3–0 | ||
| Most runs | Ajinkya Rahane (266) | AB de Villiers (258) | |
| Most wickets | Ravichandran Ashwin (31) | Imran Tahir (14) | |
| Player of the series | Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind) | ||
| One Day International series | |||
| Results | South Africa won the 5-match series 3–2 | ||
| Most runs | Rohit Sharma (255) | AB de Villiers (358) | |
| Most wickets | Bhuvneshwar Kumar (7) | Kagiso Rabada (10) Dale Steyn (10) | |
| Player of the series | AB de Villiers (SA) | ||
| Twenty20 International series | |||
| Results | South Africa won the 3-match series 2–0 | ||
| Most runs | Rohit Sharma (128) | JP Duminy (98) | |
| Most wickets | Ravichandran Ashwin (4) | Albie Morkel (3) Chris Morris (3) | |
| Player of the series | JP Duminy (SA) | ||
TheSouth African cricket team touredIndia from 29 September to 7 December 2015.[1] The tour consisted of fourTest matches, fiveOne Day International (ODI) and threeTwenty20 International (T20I) matches.[2] This was the first time a four-match Test series between the two nations has been played in India and the first time that South Africa played a T20I against India in India.[3] India won the Test series while South Africa won both the ODI and T20I series.
Starting with this series, all bilateral tours between India and South Africa were called the Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela series, with the teams playing for the Freedom Trophy.[4]
| Tests | ODIs | T20I | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 India[5] |  South Africa[6] | India[7] | South Africa[6] | India[7] | South Africa[6] |
South Africa'sDavid Wiese was ruled out of the T20I series with a fractured hand and was replaced byAlbie Morkel.[8]Rilee Rossouw was ruled out of the ODI series following a stress fracture to his foot and was replaced byKhaya Zondo.[8]Harbhajan Singh was added to India's ODI squad asRavichandran Ashwin sustained a left side strain injury during the first ODI.[9]JP Duminy was ruled out of the last two ODI matches after suffering a hand injury. He was replaced byDean Elgar. Duminy is expected to be fit for the Test series.[10]Vernon Philander was ruled out of the last three Test matches after suffering an ankle injury and was replaced byKyle Abbott.[11]Marchant de Lange was added to South Africa's Test squad as cover forDale Steyn.[12]
29 September Scorecard |
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30–31 October Scorecard |
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92/0 (30 overs) Cheteshwar Pujara 49* (90) |
2 October Scorecard |
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South Africa won by 7 wickets HPCA Stadium,Dharamshala Umpires:Vineet Kulkarni (Ind) andChettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match:JP Duminy (SA) |
5 October Scorecard |
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South Africa won by 6 wickets Barabati Stadium,Cuttack Attendance: 44,790 Umpires:C. K. Nandan (Ind) andChettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match:Albie Morkel (SA) |
8 October Scorecard |
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South Africa won by 5 runs Green Park Stadium,Kanpur Umpires:Aleem Dar (Pak) andVineet Kulkarni (Ind) Player of the match:AB de Villiers (SA) |
South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first reaching 5/303 in its innings. Three of its top four batsmen —Hashim Amla (37),Faf du Plessis (62) andAB de Villiers — passed thirty runs setting a strong platform, with the latter putting on 65 runs for the sixth wicketFarhaan Behardien (35 off 19). De Villiers finished unbeaten on 104 off 73 balls, getting to his 21st hundred with a six off the last ball of the innings.
India's reply began strongly beforeShikhar Dhawan lost his wicket in the eighth over.Rohit Sharma (150 off 133 balls) andAjinkya Rahane (60 off 82 balls) put on 149 runs for the second wicket, before the latter was dismissed in the 34th over. Wickets fell at regular intervals henceforth, and India finished five runs short of the target at 7/298 after 50 overs.
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India won by 22 runs Holkar Stadium,Indore Attendance: 26,832 Umpires:Aleem Dar (Pak) andVineet Kulkarni (Ind) Player of the match:MS Dhoni (Ind) |
Opting to bat first after winning to toss, India got off to a poor start losingRohit Sharma in the second over. AfterShikhar Dhawan was dismissed in the 13th over, wickets kept falling at regular intervals at the other end ofMS Dhoni, who finished unbeaten at 92 off 86 balls. WithAjinkya Rahane, the only other batsmen with a half-century (51), India finished its innings at 9/247.
South Africa began its chase well and were placed comfortably at 3/139 after 25 overs. After two wickets fell off consecutive overs, in the 26th and 27th, the lower-middle order and tail failed to get runs. It lost wickets at regular intervals before being dismissed for 225 in the 44th of its innings, withAxar Patel finishing off with his career-best figures of 3/39, from his 10 overs.
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South Africa won by 18 runs Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium,Rajkot Umpires:Aleem Dar (Pak) andChettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match:Morne Morkel (SA) |
South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first.David Miller was sent to open the innings for the first time in the series withQuinton de Kock, who put on 72 runs together. de Kock put on 118 runs together withFaf du Plessis (60 off 63 balls), on course, reaching his hundred off 114 balls. The team finished with 7/270 after 50 overs.
India, chasing 271, began well before losingShikhar Dhawan in the 11th over.Virat Kohli (77 off 99) batted in two notable partnerships — withRohit Sharma (65 off 74) for the second wicket andMS Dhoni (47 off 61) for the third wicket.Morne Morkel (4/39 off 10 overs) picked up the wickets of Dhoni and Kohli in his 9th and 10th overs, as India's middle order fell, before finishing off at 6/252 after 50 overs.
22 October Scorecard |
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India won by 35 runs M. A. Chidambaram Stadium,Chennai Umpires:Sundaram Ravi (Ind) andChettithody Shamshuddin (Ind) Player of the match:Virat Kohli (Ind) |
India won the toss, chose to bat first compiled a total of 299 losing 8 wickets.Rohit Sharma's dismissal in the fifth over broughtVirat Kohli to the crease, who batted in two century partnerships. He put on 104 runs withAjinkya Rahane (45 off 53 balls) for the third wicket and 127 withSuresh Raina (53 off 52 balls) for the fourth wicket. Kohli finished with 138 off 140 balls before being dismissed in the 49th over byKagiso Rabada, who finished with figures off 3/54 off his 10 overs.
Chasing 300, South Africa lost early wickets, and then at regular intervals, losing 3 wickets for 32 runs between the 10th and 20th over.AB de Villiers came to the crease onFaf du Plessis's dismissal in the 15th over, and brought his hundred up off 98 balls, with a six in the 43rd over. Losing wickets at the other end at regular intervals, his partnership withFarhaan Behardien of 56 runs was the highest of the South African innings. They finished 9/264 in the 50 overs. With his hundred, his 22nd, de Villiers went pastHerschelle Gibbs andHashim Amla as the most hundreds by a South Africanbatsman.[16]
25 October Scorecard |
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South Africa won by 214 runs Wankhede Stadium,Mumbai Umpires:Anil Chaudhary (Ind) andKumar Dharmasena (SL) Player of the match:Quinton de Kock (SA) |
South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first on a flat pitch. It lost its first wicket withHashim Amla getting dismissed for 23 in the fourth over.Quinton de Kock made his second hundred of the series, coming off 78 balls and put on 154 runs withFaf du Plessis for the second wicket before losing his wicket in the 27th over. du Plessis got his hundred as well off 105 balls before beingretiring due to cramps, after scoring 133 from 115 balls.AB de Villiers batted on and reached his hundred off 57 balls and was dismissed at 119 off 61 balls, before the team completed its innings at 4/438.
Chasing 439, India lost its first wicket in the fifth over and second in the eighth over, beforeShikhar Dhawan (60 off 59) andAjinkya Rahane (87 off 58) put on 112 runs for the third wicket. Wickets continued to fall henceforth, before the team was dismissed in the 36th over for 224.
Many records were equaled or broken on course of the match. South Africa's total of 438 was the joint third-highest in ODIs. It was only the second time that three batsmen from the same team scored individual centuries in an ODI innings.Bhuvneshwar Kumar's concession of 106 runs off his ten overs was the second-highest in an ODI.Hashim Amla became the fastest to reach 6,000 runs in ODIs, in 123 innings.[17]
5–9 November Scorecard |
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India won by 108 runs Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium,Mohali Umpires:Kumar Dharmasena (SL) andRichard Kettleborough (Eng) Player of the match:Ravindra Jadeja (Ind) |
On a pitch which looked heavily in favour of spinners,Virat Kohli won the toss and India elected to bat. Despite a good start and base given byMurali Vijay andCheteshwar Pujara, India were bowled out for 201 in their 1st innings. However, the Indian spinners stuck to make sure that South Africa, despiteAB de Villiers's 63, conceded a lead of 17 runs. India again had a strong foundation laid by Vijay and Pujara afterShikhar Dhawan picked up a pair. But a collapse of 38/8 meant that South Africa needed 218 to win the Test. The Indian spinners led byRavichandran Ashwin andRavindra Jadeja bowled South Africa out for 109 to hand India a 108 run victory. The match was the fourth consecutive match in India which finished within three days.[18]
14–18 November Scorecard |
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80/0 (22 overs) Shikhar Dhawan 45* (62) | ||
The 2nd Test started with Indian captainVirat Kohli's surprise decision to bowl first. India includedStuart Binny andIshant Sharma in place ofAmit Mishra andUmesh Yadav. The Indian spinners,Ravichandran Ashwin andRavindra Jadeja, took 8 wickets between them to dismiss South Africa for 214. Indian openersMurli Vijay andShikhar Dhawan started positively and at the end of Day 1 India was in a strong position. However, strong and persistent rain on next 4 days meant that the match ended in a draw without any further play.
25–29 November Scorecard |
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India won by 124 runs Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium,Nagpur Umpires:Ian Gould (Eng) andBruce Oxenford (Aus) Player of the match:Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind) |
India batted first and despite a strong start, a middle-order collapse meant India were all out for 215. The day ended withDean Elgar andHashim Amla batting. The first session on day 2 changed the game decisively in India's favour after South Africa were reduced to 17/5. Despite a counter-attacking innings fromJP Duminy, India bowled them out for 79. The Indian 2nd innings was a repeat of their 1st innings with India suffering a middle-order collapse to be all out for 173, setting South Africa a target of 310 runs. The 2nd day ended withDean Elgar andHashim Amla batting. The 3rd day of the match was the final day as South Africa, despite a long partnership from captain Amla andFaf du Plessis were dismissed for 185 withRavichandran Ashwin taking seven wickets. The pitch for the match was heavily criticized for offering extreme turn and variable bounce.[22] The pitch was later rated as being poor by the ICC.[23]
3–7 December Scorecard |
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India won by 337 runs Feroz Shah Kotla Ground,Delhi Umpires:Kumar Dharmasena (SL) andBruce Oxenford (Aus) Player of the match:Ajinkya Rahane (Ind) |
The fourth and final Test of the series was the only one which went beyond the third day. India again won the toss and chose to bat but a familiar batting collapse took place. However, a 98 run partnership betweenAjinkya Rahane andRavichandran Ashwin resulted in the first 300 run innings of the series. Rahane scored the first century of the series as well. South Africa's reply was a repeat of their earlier batting collapses, with batsmen after batsmen falling tospin bowling. India in their 2nd innings on back of second century for Rahane and a fighting 88 from captainVirat Kohli, declared at 267 to set South Africa a target of 481. However, a marathon blockathon fromHashim Amla,AB de Villiers,Faf du Plessis andTemba Bavuma could not help South Africa, as India won by 337 runs in the final session of the series. Rahane for his two centuries was named the man of the match, while Ashwin's 31 wickets made him the man of the series. Rahane became only the 5th Indian batsmen to score two centuries in a match while Ashwin's 31 wickets were the second highest for an Indian bowler behindHarbhajan Singh's 32 wickets in the2001 series against Australia.
On the morning of 19 October, BCCI presidentShashank Manohar and PCB chairmanShaharyar Khan were to discuss a proposedIndia-Pakistan series in December. Just before the meeting, a group of 50 workers from theShiv Sena, a political party, stormed into the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, shouting anti-Pakistan slogans and demanding the cancellation of the series. They also threatened to stopAleem Dar from officiating in theMumbai ODI.
Aleem Dar, a member of the elite panel of ICC umpires, had officiated in the first three ODIs, and was also scheduled to umpire in the fourth and fifth ODIs, in Chennai and Mumbai. In response to the above incident ICC decided to withdraw Dar from the last two ODIs.Wasim Akram andShoaib Akhtar, a part of the commentary team, decided to leave India before the fifth ODI at Mumbai.[26]