Dale Steyn's strikes leave India in tatters

Dale Steyn picked up three wickets - in the second innings - to help South Africa beat India by a convincing ten-wicket margin in Durban on Monday.

Steyn, who finished with just one wicket in the first Test in Johannesburg, made amends at Kingsmead and kept India's batsmen on the back foot from the start. He added to his six-wicket tally in the first innings with a fiery spell, in the second, that left India's top order in tatters.

On day five, South Africa's dominance began with the first ball itself when Steyn got a shortish delivery to rise sharply and have Virat Kohli caught behind. Kohli didn't agree with the decision, as the ball had brushed his shoulder on the way through to the keeper but he was on his way.

If Kohli counted himself unlucky, Cheteshwar Pujara's dismissal was clear-cut. Steyn produced a quick delivery that angled in and then nipped away to beat Pujara's attempt at keeping it out and it clipped the top of off stump.

After breaking the backbone of India's resistance, Steyn then laid into Rohit Sharma and sledged him with lines like "I've got more runs than you this series," and "You have done nothing in your career." Rohit survived both Steyn's spell and the verbals, but fell shortly after to Vernon Philander.

India managed to clear the deficit just before lunch, but South Africa had mopped up five wickets in the first session to put themselves on the verge of a series victory.

"I'm pretty stoked. Jacques sat us down on the second day and said he didn't want this game to end in a draw," Steyn said. "Pretty proud of that (350 wickets), but it won't happen if I wasn't part of this incredible team I'm part of. Got to thank the team and everybody else. I'll remember the wicket of Pujara for a while, he's a good batsman as well."

South Africa's captain, Graeme Smith, said his team had to work hard for the win. "The wicket didn't make it easy for us. It's almost like we were back in India," Smith said. "The weather and the pitch made life a little more difficult. We had to work hard. To have the ability to turn it around and win like we did is a huge achievement."