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Amla: We tried to dig deep

Cape Town - Proteas captain Hashim Amla is proud of the way his team fought in the second innings against India in Nagpur.

Final scorecard: India v South Africa, third Test

Chasing 310 for victory, the South Africans were bowled out for 185 to lose the third Test by 124 runs on Friday.

The win also saw India take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series.

The only real highlight for South Africa was the grit showed by Amla (39 off 167 balls) and Faf du Plessis (39 off 152 balls), who managed to hold out for more than 45 overs in sharing a partnership of 72 for the fifth wicket on a turning pitch.

"Obviously very disappointing. It was a hard game,” Amla said at the post-match interview. “Whether we win or lose, we have to fight honourably and well done to the guys.

“We tried to dig deep as long as we can. The pitch was a difficult factor, it was turning and bouncing whether the new ball or the old one. Three-day matches are difficult.”

Indian off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, claimed match figures of 12 for 98 to be named man-of-the-match.

"The wicket slowed up a bit today, there was help in the wicket but the way Faf and Amla played, we had to put some good balls,” said Ashwin.

“One team was trying to fight, one team was trying to win. Batsmen go out to make 100s, I go out to get a fiver. I thought Amit bowled a wonderful spell after lunch, we prized out a couple of wickets in that post-lunch session. Anybody who goes out there and trusts his defence can play well.”

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