Vernon Philander took the final three India second innings wickets in the space of four balls – the first with a sensational catch by Quinton de Kock standing up to the stumps – to snuff out any thought of a final twist in the tale of the first Sunfoil Test match at PPC Newlands on Monday to clinch a 72-run victory for the Proteas.

Prior to Philander’s triple strike there was just a chance that India might pull off an improbable win as Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar put together an eighth-wicket stand of 49 after India had collapsed to 82/7 in pursuit of a victory target of 208 which was only one run short of what they had managed in the first innings.

Manchester City FC CEO Ferran Soriano has termed India as a “land of opportunity” and remains keen to tap into the growing football market in India.

Soriano, who is also the CEO for City Football Group that owns six football clubs across continents, witnessed live action in the Hero Indian Super League during Jamshedpur FC’s home encounter against Mumbai City FC on Friday and was pleased with what he saw. Soriano is accompanied by three of Man City officials for a three day visit to India.

AB de Villiers seized the moment on day one of the first Sunfoil Test match at PPC Newlands when he carved Bhuvneshwar Kumar for four boundaries in his fifth over at a stage when the seamer was threatening to run through the Standard Bank Proteas top-order.

On day two it was the turn of Hardik Pandya to do something similar when he launched a brilliant counter-attack starting with the three boundaries he took from an over from Vernon Philander whom most of his batting colleagues had found almost unplayable.

Dale Steyn has been ruled out of bowling in the ongoing Sunfoil Test match against India due to a heel injury sustained on the second day of play at PPC Newlands on Saturday. The fast bowler landed awkwardly in footmarks while bowling shortly before the tea break, with subsequent scans confirming tissue damage to the foot.

A decision on Steyn’s availability to bat will be made in consultation with the medical committee as the match progresses.

Just who had the better of day one of the Freedom Series at PPC Newlands on Friday will in all probability not be clarified until well into day two. The Proteas found themselves on 12/3 after winning the toss and deciding to bat first under hazardous conditions to three testing overs from Bhuvneshwar Kumar but critically still had AB de Villiers at the crease.

The Proteas returning warrior launched a calculated counter-attack that set the mood for the rest of the innings as he and his captain, Faf du Plessis, shared a stand of 114 that enabled the Proteas to score 107/3 in the first session and then 123/4 in the second.

All-rounder, Chris Morris, has been added to the Standard Bank Proteas squad for the first Sunfoil Test match against India starting at PPC Newlands on January 5th. Morris has recovered from a groin injury and replaces fast bowler, Duanne Olivier, in the 15-man squad. This selected squad is only for the first match of the 2018 Freedom Series.

The Proteas will assemble in Cape Town on January 2nd to begin preparations for the first Test of the three-match series.

The All-India Senior Selection Committee met in Mumbai today to pick the squad for the six-match away ODI series against South Africa.

India squad for ODI series: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (Vice-Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.