With the second day washed out due to rain, India effectively beat South Africa in just over three days in the first Test in Centurion. Captain Virat Kohli, though far from being at his best with the bat, is mighty pleased with the performance his teammates put in to help India take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

“We’ve got off to a perfect start. You have to understand one day was washed out, which shows how well we played,” the Test skipper said at the post-match presentation.

“Centurion is always a difficult place to play against South Africa. But we showed discipline right through.

“It was tough batting first in these conditions, but credit to Mayank (Agarwal) and KL (Rahul) for the way they set it up. We knew we were in pole position with anything over 300-320. We knew the bowlers would get the job done and we even spoke about that in the change room.”

Kohli was effusive in his praise for both Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, the two other architects of India’s 113-run win alongside centurion and Player of the Match Rahul.

“The fact that he (Bumrah) didn’t bowl much in the first innings (after spraining his right ankle) allowed South Africa to get around 40-50 more runs. Just the way these guys bowl together has been a hallmark of our team getting a favourable result even in difficult situations,” Kohli emphasised.

Hailing Shami, Kohli said: “He’s absolutely world class. To me, he’s among the best three seamers in the world.

“His strong wrist, his seam position and his ability to hit the right length consistently have benefited our team a great deal. I’m very happy for him to get 200 (Test) wickets and produce an impactful performance.”

The second and penultimate Test begins at the Wanderers in Johannesburg from January 3. Kohli is confident of an encore of 2018, when India had beaten a much stronger South African side, the last time both teams played a Test in Johannesburg.