India continued their strong performances in the whites as they demolished the Proteas by an innings and 137 runs at Pune on Sunday. It was a display of pure domination by the home team throughout the course of the game. Captain Virat Kohli continued the tradition of winning the toss and decided to bat first.

Rohit Sharma was dismissed early when Rabada had been caught behind for 14. However, Mayank Agarwal continued his sizzling form with the bat and notched up another century. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane also made valuable contributions scoring a half-century each.

However, it was skipper Virat Kohli who stole the show. Walking out to bat at 163/2, he stayed at the crease till the end of the innings. Kohli scored his 26th double hundred and was not done yet. He batted through and through to complete his 7th double ton in Tests.

India continued to stay in a firm position as Ravindra Jadeja came to the crease. However, it was after Tea on Day 2, that both unleashed their tenacity as they started attacking the bowlers in a bid to score quick runs. Both added 113 runs off just 69 balls as India posted a mammoth total of 601/5 before Kohli decided to declare. Jadeja fell nine short of a well-deserved Test to while Kohli remained unbeaten on 254*, his highest Test score.

On the other hand, South Africa were off to a poor start. After accounting for Aiden Markram, Umesh Yadav also got the better of Dean Elgar to leave them reeling at 13/2. The wickets kept falling at regular intervals as half of the team was back in the hut with just 53 runs on the board. Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock tried to revive the Proteas from an early collapse but failed to do anything substantial. Both their dismissals left South Africa under further anguish as they were reduced to 162/8.

However, India continued their habit of letting the tailenders flourish after gaining momentum. The pair of Vernon Philander and Keshav Maharaj batted for a duration of almost four hours, putting up 109 runs for the ninth wicket. Ravichandran Ashwin finally got the much-needed breakthrough with South Africa being bowled out for 275 at the end of Day three.

With a lead of 326 runs, India decided to enforce the follow on. Markram was again out for a duck. India’s bowlers were on top even as Elgar and du Plessis tried to fight.

The middle-order collapse meant that South Africa stared at a defeat with the score reading 79/5.

There was very little respite left in the visitors to create a turnaround as they had been let down big time by their batsmen. Bavuma managed to stick around for a while but was caught at slip by Rahane at 38. The lower order again managed to irritate the Indian bowlers as Philander and Maharaj again came together to stitch a 56-run partnership.

It was Umesh Yadav's twin strikes that finally brought the smiles back into the Indian dressing room. Ravindra Jadeja managed to get the better of Maharaj as the Proteas suffered their worst defeat against India in a Test match. India won by an astounding margin of an innings and 137 runs.

With the win, India also gained 40 points to take their overall tally to 200 points in the ICC World Test Championship points table. The third and final Test match is scheduled to begin on 19th October at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi.