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Proteas Seal Resounding Victory

Saturday 5th April 2008

South Africa completed their demolition job on India in the second Test, securing victory by an innings and 90 runs inside three days.

Pace trio Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel claimed eight wickets between them to bowl the Proteas to their biggest ever success on Indian soil.

After declaring overnight on their total of 494-7 with a massive lead of 418, they quickly reduced the home side to 125-4 in their second innings.

A fifth-wicket stand of 110 between Sourav Ganguly (87) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who made 52, briefly held them up before India subsided in an extended final session to be all out for 328.

Ntini clean bowled last man S Sreesanth in the extra half hour to end the contest and put South Africa 1-0 up in the series with one to play.

The comprehensive final margin was no more than Graeme Smith's side deserved after dominating from start to finish at the Sardar Patel Stadium.

Not even a delayed start due to overnight rain could stop them maintaining their firm grip on proceedings, and it didn't take them too long to do damage with the new ball.

Virender Sehwag was the first wicket to go, though not before he had smacked two sixes in the opening over bowled by Steyn.

The opener, scorer of the fastest ever triple century in Test cricket in the drawn series opener in Chennai, was trapped lbw by Ntini for 17.

Former captain Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer batted cautiously before both fell in the space of six runs, the former the first to go when he was surprised by a Morkel short ball that he could only fend to AB de Villiers in the slips.

The same fielder was also in the middle of the action two overs later when all-rounder Jacques Kallis found the edge of Jaffer's bat.

A 55-run stand for the fourth wicket briefly halted South Africa's momentum and took India past their first innings total of 76, their second lowest ever on home soil.

However, a lazy prod outside his off stump ended VVS Laxman fluent innings of 35 and provided Morkel with his second wicket of the day.

Ganguly and Dhoni surviving some hostile bowling, particularly from the impressive Steyn, to share a century stand that threatened to take the match into a fourth day.

Eventually their resistance was ended by Steyn, who had Ganguly caught behind and then went on to dismiss Harbhajan Singh and RP Singh to finish with impressive match figures of 8-116.

Dhoni perished playing a loose drive against Ntini before Paul Harris claimed his first wicket of the match, bowling Anil Kumble with a delivery that went straight between the India skipper's bat and pad.

Sreesanth slogged two fours and a six to briefly give the home fans something to cheer about until he was the last man to fall, leaving Irfan Pathan stranded on 43 not out.