South Africa clinches first test series win in India since 2000

GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Hansie Cronje was the South Africa captain in 2000 and Sachin Tendulkar led India the last time South Africa won a test series in India.

On Wednesday, some 25 years later, South Africa clinched its second series in India in that span by beating the hosts by 408 runs. World Test Championship winner South Africa won the opening test at Kolkata by 30 runs.

Off-spinner Simon Harmer took a career-best 6-37 and India crashed to be 140 all out in its second innings and lose the two-match series 2-0.

In 2000, the Cronje-led South Africans also clinched a 2-0 win. The Proteas had won both tests in Mumbai and Bengaluru, against the Tendulkar-led India.

Since then, South Africa had managed to win only two of 13 tests in India before overturning that record in Kolkata and Guwahati this year.

“It is a massive win. This is what we keep working towards, keep dreaming of," South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said. "It is not every day that you can come to India and walk away with a 2-0 series win. Some of us have been on the other side of this result, and I think that’s what makes it sweeter.”

South Africa had set an improbable 549 runs for victory, after it scored 489 and 260-5 in two innings. India had folded for 201 runs in its first innings, conceding a 288-run lead.

India had lost three wickets in the morning session Wednesday, and was 90-5 at tea. Then it lost a further five wickets in just over an hour in the second session, comprehensively beaten before lunch on day five.

It was India’s biggest test defeat by runs — its previous highest margin of defeat (by runs) was 342 against Australia in 2004 at Nagpur. Overall, India has lost five of its last seven home tests — a first in 66 years. Its two wins came against West Indies last month.

“It’s a little disappointing and as a team we need to get better. You have to credit the opposition for playing better cricket than us," India captain and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant said. "They dominated the series. You cannot take things for granted playing at home.”

It was a second home loss for India in consecutive seasons. New Zealand won 3-0 in October 2024, raising a serious question about India’s transitional phase in the red-ball format.

Harmer finished with 17 wickets in the two tests, scripting a historic win for the Proteas. It was a first five-wicket haul on Indian soil for the off-spinner — he had previously had four four-wicket hauls here.

Harmer was named player of the series.

“(We) beat a very good Indian team,” Harmer said. “It is nice to get a five-for in India. They put up a good fight and would bat for their lives. But we put the ball in the right areas.”

Aiden Markram supported him with nine catches in the match — the most ever for a fielder in a single test in history.

Ravindra Jadeja top-scored for India with 54 off 87 balls, including four fours and two sixes, even as the hosts missed skipper Shubman Gill. He suffered a neck injury in Kolkata and missed the second test.

Bavuma, meanwhile, has won 11 out of 12 tests for South Africa as skipper, including the 2025 World Test Championship final in June.

South African allrounder Marco Jansen was named player of the match for scoring 93 in the first innings and taking six wickets for 48 runs.

Cronje’s South Africa won a closely fought first test in Mumbai by four wickets, and then registered an innings’ victory in the second test at Bengaluru.

Pacers Shaun Pollock (9) and Allan Donald (7) had shared 16 wickets in two tests, while left-arm spinner Nicky Boje picked up seven wickets. For India, Anil Kumble took 12 wickets in the two tests. Gary Kirsten top-scored for the Proteas with 149 runs in three innings, while Jacques Kallis scored 136 runs.

Tendulkar led with 97 in the first test, while Mohammed Azharuddin scored 102 in his 99th (and final) test at Bengaluru. But India went down 2-0 to lose a first home series since 1987, when it had lost to Pakistan.

It was Tendulkar’s last assignment as India skipper. Cronje, banned not long after that 2000 test series for match-fixing, died in a plane crash in 2002.

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South Africa's players celebrate after South Africa wins the test series against India in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

India's captain Rishab Pant, right, and South Africa's captain Temba Bavuma shake hands after South Africa wins the test series against India in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

South Africa's cricket team celebrates with the trophy after winning the test series against India in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

India's Ravindra Jadeja dives to reach the crease after stumped out on the fifth day of the second cricket test match between India and South Africa in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

South Africa's players celebrate the dismissal of India's Sai Sudharsan on the fifth day of the second cricket test match between India and South Africa in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

India's Ravindra Jadeja celebrates after scoring fifty runs on the fifth day of the second cricket test match between India and South Africa in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

India's Washington Sundar walks off the field after losing his wicket on the fifth day of the second cricket test match between India and South Africa in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

South Africa's players celebrate the dismissal of India's Washington Sundar on the fifth day of the second cricket test match between India and South Africa in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

India's captain Rishab Pant plays a shot on the fifth day of the second cricket test match between India and South Africa in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

India's Kuldeep Yadav bowled out by South Africa's Simon Harmer on the fifth day of the second cricket test match between India and South Africa in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

South Africa's players celebrate the dismissal of India's captain Rishab Pant on the fifth day of the second cricket test match between India and South Africa in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

India's captain Rishab Pant walks off the field after losing his wicket on the fifth day of the second cricket test match between India and South Africa in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

South Africa's players celebrate the dismissal of India's captain Rishab Pant on the fifth day of the second cricket test match between India and South Africa in Guwahati, India, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

President Donald Trump said U.S. forces will keep hitting Iran “very hard” in the next two or three weeks and bring the country “back to the Stone Ages,” even as he touted the success of U.S. operations and argued that all of Washington’s objectives have so far been met or exceeded.

Trump said Iran would continue to face a barrage of attacks in the short term.

“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”

Trump didn’t say anything about negotiations with Iran or bring up the April 6 deadline he set for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway for global oil and gas transport. He has threatened to attack Iran's energy infrastructure if the strait was not reopened.

Trump also did not offer a clear path to end the supply disruptions that have sent energy prices soaring. He did not mention the possibility of sending U.S. ground troops into Iran, or NATO, the trans-Atlantic alliance he has railed against for not helping the U.S. secure the waterway.

Oil rose more than 4% and Asian stocks fell after the comments. Oil prices were sharply higher following Trump’s remarks. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 4.9% to $106.16 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 4% to $104.15 a barrel.

U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to push fuel prices higher worldwide. Analysts say those high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’ transportation and packaging costs pile up.

Here is the latest:

A New York-based think tank said Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech suggests he “is willing to leave the Strait of Hormuz off the table, leaving other nations to deal with the consequences.”

“Trump’s message was that the United States can sustain its own economic and energy ecosystem, while countries dependent on regional exports will either have to buy from the United States or manage the Strait themselves,” the Soufan Center wrote.

“While Trump explicitly thanked U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf for their cooperation and allyship, an expedited U.S. withdrawal without securing the Strait will leave many of these countries, whose economies are dependent on energy exports, in the lurch.”

Fuel prices in Thailand soared again on Thursday after the government further cut subsidies, sending diesel price to over 44 baht ($1.35) per liter, about 12% increase.

The surge was the second time in a week, after a majority of fuel prices rose by 6 baht ($0.18) per liter last Thursday.

Democrats are criticizing Trump’s primetime address to the American people on the war in Iran as “incoherent” and as doing little to answer “the most basic questions the American people,” according to statements from two Democratic lawmakers released on Wednesday.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., noted that Trump owed Americans more answers about a conflict that has driven up prices on gas “alongside rising prices for diesel, fertilizer, aluminum, and other essentials, with consequences that will continue to ripple through the economy for a long time to come” in his statement.

Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., released a statement that said the “speech was grounded in a reality that only exists in Donald Trump’s mind.”

Murphy went on to add that “no one in America, after listening to that speech, knows whether we are escalating or deescalating.”

Oil rose more than 4% and Asian stocks fell after U.S. President Donald Trump said in his first national address since the Iran war began that the U.S. will keep hitting Iran very hard.

Trump also said the United States will “finish the job” in Iran and that military operations could wrap up soon.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.4% to 53,004.81 in early Asia trading on Thursday. South Korea’s Kospi lost 3.4% to 5,292.36. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.8% to 25,082.59.

U.S. futures were down more than 0.7%.

Oil prices were sharply higher following Trump’s remarks. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 5% to $106.22 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 4.2% to $104.36 a barrel.

Members of civic groups hold signs against the U.S. and Israel attacks on Iran near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Israel's rescue teams and residents take shelter as sirens sounds next to a site struck by an Iranian missile in Bnei Brak, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A family who fled Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon warm themselves by a bonfire next to tents used as shelters in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People stand near a damaged van beside scattered debris following an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A firefighter extinguishes a car at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)