Shaun Pollock was grinning from ear to ear after his side had thumped India by nine wickets in the first Test at Goodyear Park on Tuesday. That he took 10 wickets in the match, the first time he has done so in 59 Tests, was an added reason to celebrate. Pollock was of the view that his team had done remarkably well to recover from the opening day thrashing to come back in this manner and still win the game in three and a half days. Excerpts from an interview:

Q: It has been a long wait for you, to get 10 wickets in a match...

A: Yeah, it has been. I have been close to it a couple of times, but a few frustrating things have happened. It came to a point when I thought someone was against me.

Q: The South African fight-back was remarkable in this game...

A: If you want to win, you have got to learn to win in every condition. I think to fight back from 380 down and to come back as we have is a credit to us. It was a difficult situation in which we found ourselves in the first innings, but the boys fought back and they batted superbly. That's what it is all about, to turn things around and come out on top.

Q: Lance Klusener's hundred couldn't have come at a better time for your team...

A: It must have been frustrating for the Indians, having got us six down. It allowed us to get a lead of 184, and they were four down before they were past our score. And we knew that hopefully we could get the lower order quickly.

Q: Did you expect the game to end so quickly?

A: I didn't expect it to end so quickly. I thought the game would go till tomorrow. The guys did a good job. We knew that if we could get some early wickets, we could put pressure on them.

Q: Do you think you have the same kind of support from your bowlers at the other end?

A: I think there has been a bit of difficulty there. We haven't played a lot of four-day cricket. The guys are probably a bit rusty. The players who just got back into Test cricket took some time, but then they were better in the second innings. The wicket was also a good one, and you knew that the way it was bouncing, you wanted to keep as many men as possible in catching positions, and that left gaps in the field.

Q: Any impressions of the innings Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag played on the first day?

A: Sachin played very well. He is one of those batters who dominate at the crease. The margin of error is very small. He really picks on a bad ball. Sehwag was marvellous too, to get a hundred in his first Test innings.

Q: What is your impression of Makhaya Ntini? Do you think he remains a potential match winner?

A: I think it is important for us to have Ntini. He is a strike bowler, and there is always a place for a strike bowler. I think, in world cricket, fast bowlers have always dominated, no matter what the conditions and the wicket are, and he did a good job. He is back in the new set-up, and it takes a while to settle down totally, but I thought that, for a first game, he did pretty well.

Q: Klusener did not speak to the media after his hundred. Is it part of his preparation to skip press conferences?

A: Lance is Lance. That's what probably I can say.

Q: How did the wicket play in this first Test?

A: I think this was the kind of wicket at Bloemfontein where you could put a lot of pressure on the batsmen. There was quite a bit of grass, and that was the reason I decided to field first. It was important for us to get 20 wickets. We knew the wicket would get better as the game went on. But then, this wicket always had something in it for the bowlers, right till the fourth afternoon, if you could put it in the right place and bend your back a bit...

Q: Your batting performance was quite in contrast to your bowling effort...

A: It was short and sweet, wasn't it.

Q: Herschelle Gibbs, it seems, has now a long future in this South African team...

A: He is a gem for us. He bats with real freedom. He is a pleasure to watch when you sit there. He has come a long way, and he has really stepped up the gear.

© CricInfo