How India almost beat South Africa in 2010-11
After suffering a massive innings defeat in the first Test, India made a stellar comeback to win the second. However, chasing a stiff total in the third, they settled for a draw to end the three-match Test series at 1-1 in 2010-11.
India came agonizingly close to registering a first Test series win in South Africa the last time they toured the rainbow nation in 2010-11. On the eve of another tough two-match Test series between the two sides, here's a look at how India fared back then.
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1ST TEST: South Africa win by an innings & 25 runs
India endured a tough time in the first innings. The erstwhile world number one side was rattled by Morne Morkel & Dale Steyn in Centurion and were skittled out for 136 . Christmas came early for South Africa's batsmen as Jacques Kallis scored a double century while Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers chipped in with centuries to power the hosts to 620.
India fought back with three individual fifties and a century from Sachin Tendulkar but an innings defeat could not be avoided.
2ND TEST: India win by 87 runs
India suffered another poor start to the Test as Dale Steyn's six-for helped South Africa bundle out the visitors for 205. Zaheer Khan, who missed the first Test due to an injury, returned in style and with an in-form Harbhajan Singh for company, South Africa were bowled out for 131. VVS Laxman slammed a gritty knock of 96 as India set a tricky target of 303 for the hosts. Zaheer continued from where he left off in the first innings while S Sreesanth bowled fiery spells to help India level the series with an 87-run victory.
3RD TEST: Draw
India went into the Cape Town Test knowing a win here could help them register a historic first Test series win in the rainbow nation but one man stopped them.
Jacques Kallis slammed 161 in the first innings helped South Africa to post 362. Sachin Tendulkar's 146 ensured India took a tiny 2 run lead. At 98 for 5, The Indian bowlers had the hosts on the mat, but then they failed to press home the advantage as Jacques Kallis notched up another ton, leaving India a stiff 340-run target.
It was a tricky chase, but Gautam Gambhir dropped anchor to score a 184-ball knock of 64 to eke out a draw. It was the first time that India managed to draw a Test series in South Africa.