India vs South Africa, 1st Test Drawn - Sehwag's Fastest Triple Century in vain

The first Test match of the 3 match series between India and South Africa has been drawn on the final day at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday, 30th March 2008. South Africa finished 331/5 with the help of unbeaten 155 from Neil McKenzie, and his solid 157-run partnership with Hashim Amla scored 81.

It's a match that all the bowlers will want to erase from memory as quickly as possible. Even on the fifth day there wasn't much assistance and McKenzie batted superbly to remain unbeaten on 155. Harbhajan finished the match with eight wickets and bowled an astonishing 78.5 overs.

This test match will be remembered for the memorable inning of India's Verendar Sehwag , hitting 319 in just 304 balls in the first inning, made the record of fastest triple century in the history of test cricket in just 278 balls. Rahul Dravid also completed 10,000 runs in test cricket in his inning of 111 runs, his 25th test century.
South Africa skipper Graeme Smith felt the match had provided his team with some much-needed time in Indian conditions ahead of the second Test in Ahmedabad.

"We always knew the quality of the South African batsman, they batted exceptionally well," admitted India captain Anil Kumble.

Match Summary:

South Africa 1st Inning - 540 All Out in 152.5 overs.

India 1st Inning - 627 All Out in 155.1 overs.

South Africa 2nd Inning - 331/5 in 109 overs.

Toss - South Africa, who chose to bat first.

Man of the Match - Virendar Sehwag (India)

Result - Match drawn.

Series - 3-match series level 0-0.