A 203-run victory might not do justice for the tight-game that was put on display by both the teams in Vizag. India completed a comfortable victory in the end and took a 1-0 lead in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.

Skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first. All eyes were on Rohit Sharma who was playing his first Test as an opener. Rohit looked comfortable against the new ball and played spin brilliantly throughout. He managed a spectacular 176 in his maiden outing as an opener. Mayank Agarwal who reached his first century had more to offer as he raced his way to a phenomenal double hundred. Together, both stitched a 317-run partnership for the first wicket, which was also the third-best opening stand for India overall.

India tried to go for quick runs in the end and as a result, lost a number of wickets before declaring on 502/7. Keshav Maharaj picked up three wickets but ended up conceding 189 runs. Surprisingly, South Africa's premium pacer Kagiso Rabada went wicketless in the first innings.

The Proteas were off to a horrid start as they lost four wickets with just 63 runs on the board. However, Dean Elgar who was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin four times during his previous tour to India came out to bat with a plan. After he took Ashwin to the cleaners in his first spell on Day 3,  skipper Kohli was forced to introduce the pacers back into the attack.

Elgar looked quite comfortable during his stay at the crease as he piled up 160 runs. Quinton de Kock who has always managed to trouble India with the bat also went on to register a ton. Together, both combined for a partnership of 164 runs for the sixth wicket as they helped South Africa recover from an early collapse. Skipper Faf du Plessis also scored a fifty.

Once both got out, the spinners got to work and they struck at regular intervals. South Africa managed to post a total of 431 on the board. Ashwin who was playing his first Test since December went on to take a seven-wicket haul and also became the joint-fastest alongside Muttiah Muralitharan to 350 Test wickets later in the game.

While Mayank was dismissed early in the second innings, Rohit continued his stupendous performance with the bat and again rose to the occasion. He scored 127 runs that came at an extraordinary strike rate of 85.23 and helped India dictate terms for the rest of the game. Rohit smashed 7 sixes in his second innings, adding to the 6 sixes he managed in the first. Rohit hit Piedt for three successive sixes and in the process, went on to break records. His tally of 13 sixes is the most for an individual batsman in a single Test.

Cheteshwar Pujara batted aggressively too but he missed out on a hundred, getting out for 81.

Ravindra Jadeja was India’s pinch-hitter at number four and the southpaw didn’t disappoint. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane also continued their atrocities with the bat with some quickfire runs before India declared their innings at 323/4 to have a go at the Proteas late on Day 4.

With a target of 395, South Africa lost the hero of their last innings early as Elgar was trapped by Jadeja in front of the stumps just before the end of Day 4. Ashwin provided the first breakthrough on Day 5 as he got rid of Theunis de Bruyn.

Mohammad Shami who has been renowned for his fierceness in the second innings of a Test match went bonkers. He immediately knocked out the middle stump of Temba Bavuma in the very next over. Then he came back for his second spell and bowled Faf du Plessis with an inswinging delivery. In his next over, he reduced Quinton de Kock's stumps into a spectacle as the Proteas were put on the backfoot.

Jadeja displayed his valour with the ball as he picked up three wickets in a single over which included a splendid caught and bowled to dismiss Aiden Markram. At 70/8, South Africa were staring at a huge defeat. However, the spin duo of Senuran Muthusamy and Dane Piedt displayed their batting credentials at the lower order as India again struggled to get the tailenders early.

Both were dismissed in the second session by Shami who ended up with figures of 5/35, his fifth five-wicket haul in Tests. India won the game by 203 runs as Rohit was named as the Man of the Match for his twin tons. The Virat Kohli-led team added another 40 points to their tally as they continued to display their dominance in the World Test Championship table.

The second Test is scheduled to take place at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on October 10.