CENTURION – JOHANNESBURG – Cricket South Africa (CSA) has congratulated the Standard Bank Proteas on winning the Sunfoil Freedom Test Series against India on Wednesday with a game to spare.
The Proteas clinched the series when they beat India by 135 runs with almost two sessions to spare in the second Test at SuperSport Park on Wednesday to take a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series. They now have the chance to complete a clean sweep against the world’s No 1 ranked team in the final match starting at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium next Wednesday.
“Congratulations to our captain, Faf du Plessis, our coach, Ottis Gibson, and all the players and management on what has been a real team effort,” commented CSA Acting Chief Executive, Thabang Moroe.
“In spite of the margins of victory this has been a very competitive series between the top two sides on the ICC rankings list and I am sure we will get more of the same in the remaining match.
Debutante Lungi Ngidi was named Man of the Match at Centurion for his match figures of 7/90. Photo: CSA on Twitter
“The Freedom Series, which also honours two great leaders of our respective countries, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi, has a connotation that goes beyond the game of cricket and represents a wonderful tradition and celebration.
“The cricket played by both sides has lived up to everything we could have expected. What is particularly pleasing from a South African point of view is that two young players in their first summer of Test cricket – Aiden Markram and Lungi Ngidi – have contributed significantly to this success.
“It has been a wonderful day for South Africa with our under-19 boys also beating defending champions the West Indies to qualify for the quarter-finals of the ICC Junior World Cup,” concluded Mr Moroe.