India will have to wait for a maiden Test series win in South Africa after the Proteas scurried through to a seven-wicket win in the second Test in Cape Town to clinch series 2-1.

The day four began with the hosts requiring 111 runs with eight wickets in hand on a difficult pitch to bat on. Skipper Dean Elgar was dismissed on the last ball of day three.

Keegan Petersen lead the Proteas in the chase of 212 with new batter Rassie van der Dussen. The duo took the game away from the Indians - a drop catch of Petersen did not help Virat Kohli's team's case at all. 

Petersen struck his third Test fifty, second in the game. He was aggressive in his approach throughout the innings, but a century went begging as he chopped on to the stumps off Shardul Thakur. But his 113-ball 82, with 10 boundaries, already put South Africa in the box seat.

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami dried out the runs after the dismissal. At lunch, India only had 41 runs to play with.

Temba Bavuma (32* off 58) and van der Dussen (41* off 95) did the finishing touch after the interval. An overthrow giving away five runs and Bavuma's slog sweep off Ravichandran Ashwin confirmed South Africa's win.

Petersen won both the player of the match and the series awards. Before his 82 in the second innings, he had made 72 at a strike rate of 43 in the first. The 28-year-old ended as the leading run-scorer of the series (276 runs).  

Placed fourth on the table, South Africa now have 66.66 percentage points in the World Test Championship. India are fifth with 49.07 percentage points. 

The three-match series began with India's dominating 113-run win in Centurion. Then Dean Elgar's fourth-innings special in Johannesburg helped South Africa chase down 240 with seven wickets in hand.