India vs South Africa Tests 2018: SA Win 2-1 — Philander Player of Series, Kohli 153 at Centurion, Ngidi Debut 6/39 Seals Series, Rabada 15 Wickets, India Win at Wanderers
South Africa won the three-match Test series against India in January 2018 by 2-1. Vernon Philander was Player of the Series with 15 wickets. 1st Test Newlands Cape Town (Jan 5-8): SA won by 72 runs (SA 286 — de Villiers 65, du Plessis 62 — & 130; India 209 — Pandya 93 — & 135; Philander 6/42 in India's 2nd innings, 9 match wickets; Player of Match Philander). 2nd Test SuperSport Park Centurion (Jan 13-17): SA won by 135 runs (Kohli 153 — 21st Test century — only India 50+ in the innings; Ngidi debut 6/39 in India's 2nd innings of 151 — 7 match wickets; Ngidi Player of Match; Rabada 5-for in India's 1st innings). 3rd Test Wanderers Johannesburg (Jan 24-27): India won by 63 runs (Bhuvneshwar Kumar Player of Match). Rabada 15 series wickets; Philander 15; Shami 15 (India's leading bowler). Kohli 286 runs (India's top); AB de Villiers 211 (SA's top). Faf du Plessis captained SA; Virat Kohli captained India.
South Africa won the three-match Test series against India in January 2018 by 2-1. Vernon Philander was Player of the Series with 15 wickets. 1st Test Newlands, Cape Town (Jan 5-8): SA won by 72 runs — SA 286 (de Villiers 65, du Plessis 62) & 130; India 209 (Pandya 93 — India's top scorer; Bhuvneshwar 4/87 in SA's 1st innings) & 135 (chasing 208; Philander 6/42 in India's 2nd innings). Philander took 9 wickets in the match; Player of the Match: Philander. 2nd Test SuperSport Park, Centurion (Jan 13-17): SA won by 135 runs — SA 335 (Markram 94, Amla 82; Ashwin 4/113) & 258 (de Villiers 80, Elgar 61; Shami 4/49, Bumrah 3/70); India 307 (Kohli 153 — his 21st Test century, the only India 50+ in the innings; Rabada five-for) & 151 (Ngidi 6/39 — his debut innings, clinching the series). Player of the Match: Lungi Ngidi (7 match wickets on debut; replaced the injured Dale Steyn). 3rd Test Wanderers, Johannesburg (Jan 24-27): India won by 63 runs — India 187 & 247; SA 194 & 177 (chasing 241). Player of the Match: Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Series leading wickets: Rabada 15, Philander 15, Shami 15. Kohli 286 series runs — India's top; de Villiers 211 — SA's top. Faf du Plessis captained South Africa; Virat Kohli captained India.
Philander 6/42 at Cape Town: 9-Wicket Match Haul Wins the First Test
Vernon Philander's 6/42 in India's 2nd innings of 135 at Newlands — added to his 3/33 in India's 1st innings — gave him 9 wickets in the match and the Player of the Match award. South Africa's 72-run win was built on a Cape Town pitch that offered significant seam movement throughout, with 18 wickets falling in just 64 overs across the match. India's Hardik Pandya top-scored with 93 in their 1st innings — a counter-attacking innings that briefly threatened to give India parity — but Philander's 6/42 in India's 2nd-innings chase of 208 dismantled them for 135. Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 4/87 in SA's 1st innings was the pick of India's bowling, showing they could compete in these conditions but lacking the batting depth to capitalise.
Kohli 153 and Ngidi Debut 6/39: The Centurion Defining Match
The 2nd Test at Centurion was the series' defining match — and contained its two most compelling individual performances. Virat Kohli's 153 in India's 1st innings of 307 was his 21st Test century and the lone innings of quality in an otherwise collapsed India batting effort: no other India batsman passed 50 in that innings as Rabada's five-wicket haul dismantled the rest. Kohli's century gave India a first-innings total that kept them competitive, but the match turned in South Africa's favour when Lungi Ngidi — a debutant replacing the injured Dale Steyn — took 6/39 in India's 2nd innings of 151. Ngidi's debut 6-for is one of the great debut bowling spells in Test history; his 7 match wickets gave him Player of the Match in a result that sealed the series 2-0 for SA going into the Johannesburg 3rd Test.
India's Wanderers Win and the 15-Wicket Three-Way Bowling Race
India's 63-run consolation win at the Wanderers — with Bhuvneshwar Kumar earning Player of the Match for his all-round contribution (scores of 30 and 33; 3/44 in SA's 1st innings) — ended a series that had been closely contested at the individual bowling level. Kagiso Rabada (SA), Vernon Philander (SA), and Mohammed Shami (India) all finished with exactly 15 series wickets — a striking three-way tie that reflected how evenly matched the two pace attacks were across three Highveld pitches. The series result (2-1 to SA) was determined largely by India's batting failures in the first two Tests — particularly at Centurion where only Kohli's 153 prevented a more comprehensive defeat — rather than by any significant difference in bowling quality. AB de Villiers' 211 series runs (65 at Cape Town + 80 at Centurion) led SA's batting; Kohli's 286 confirmed him as India's only batter capable of competing with SA's pace attack in its own conditions.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the India vs South Africa Test series in 2018?
South Africa won 2-1. SA won the 1st Test at Cape Town by 72 runs (Philander 9 match wickets, 6/42 in India's 2nd innings) and the 2nd Test at Centurion by 135 runs (Kohli 153; Ngidi debut 6/39). India won the 3rd Test at Johannesburg by 63 runs (Bhuvneshwar Kumar PoM). Vernon Philander was Player of the Series with 15 wickets — equal with Rabada and India's Shami.
What did Lungi Ngidi do on his Test debut against India in 2018?
Lungi Ngidi took 6/39 in India's 2nd innings of 151 at Centurion on his Test debut — replacing the injured Dale Steyn. His 7 match wickets and Player of the Match award directly sealed South Africa's series win (2-0 with one Test remaining). At 21, his debut remains one of the most impactful debut bowling performances in Test cricket.