South Africa win first test against India

After the close of day four to the heavy winds of a storm, the Centurion opened up to clear skies on the final day. However, with South Africa needing just two wickets to take the series lead against India, it didn't seem like the players would be out for long.

And they weren't. Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn took the wickets of India's tail, Sreesanth (3) and Unadkat (1) respectively, to wrap up proceedings on a very brief day and give South Africa a comprehensive victory of an innings and 25 runs.

Though India battled back in the second innings, South Africa's first innings total of 620/4 D proved too much to overhaul. India's only positive came from Sachin Tendulkar who scored his 50^th test century late in day fourth and remained unbeaten at 111.

South Africa had plenty of positives to take from the game, not in least Jacques Kallis' first double-ton. The feat coupled with two wickets in the game gave him the Man of the Match award. He said, It was a very special moment. It was a good all-round effort from us, we put in a good performance on day one which put us ahead of the eight-ball. Centurion is a big scoring ground and we came into this Test looking to be very positive with both bat and ball.

South African skipper Graeme Smith was elated with the victory which came as a perfect Christmas gift. Obviously very happy, it's a big series, the build-up has been big and it's nice to come out and secure a big win. The bowlers did very well and bowled in the right areas on the first day. We wanted to be positive in our first innings, and to take the game forward like that, the way the batsmen played, it was great Test cricket. We've had terrific support from the fans, looking forward to Christmas with our families and then on to Durban.

Indian skipper Dhoni conceded that his team's bowling was in need improvement if they are to stand a chance at Durban. The deficit was too much to handle, and South Africa got too many runs. It was a good show by the batsmen in the second innings. After they won the toss it was a job half done, but they had to bowl well and they did. Most of the batsmen got off to a good start in the second innings, that's a big positive. But there are grey areas. Our bowling has to improve, and we are looking forward to having him (Zaheer Kahn) back in the side. I've lost quite a few tosses, but it's important now to take some time off and then get back into the groove.

The second test of the series will take place at Durban on the 26^th, Boxing day.