Fast bowler Mohammed Shami picked up a five-wicket haul while left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took four in South Africa's second innings to hand India a convincing 203-run victory in the opening Test at Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
Chasing an improbable 395 for victory, the tourists were all out for 191 in the second session after resuming on 11 for one on the fifth and final day.
After Rohit Sharma. who was named player of the match, registered twin hundreds in his maiden match as a Test opener to set up India's push for victory, the hosts' bowlers put in a clinical performance in the second innings.
Shami snuffed out South Africa's hopes of salvaging a draw with his early strikes and returned later to complete his fifth five-wicket haul in Tests.
Jadeja picked up 4-87, including three in one over, to help India take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Tailender Dane Piedt and debutant all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy showed the grit and determination that was missing from their top and middle order batsmen, stitching together a ninth-wicket stand of 91 to delay India's victory.
It was left to Shami, who took 5-35, to break the stand by dismissing Piedt for his fourth bowled-out victim after the batsman had completed his maiden half-century in Tests.
India captain Virat Kohli said: "The wicket played really good for the first three days ... but once you have 500 on the board, it's difficult for the opposition.
"It was a hard grind though because of the weather and the pitch slowing down. It's all about the attitude. If fast bowlers step out thinking, spinners are going to do the job, then it's not going to happen. But the fast bowlers have been brilliant in India."
Ravichandran Ashwin, who took 31 wickets in four Tests to lead India to a 3-0 series win the last time South Africa toured India in 2015, provided the early breakthrough on Sunday when Theunis de Bruyn chopped on the off-spinner to be out for 10.
It tied Ashwin for the fastest in the world to 350 Test wickets with Sri Lankan spinning great Muttiah Muralitharan who also achieved the feat in his 66th match.
With the spinners taking nine out of 10 wickets in the first innings on a turning pitch where a few deliveries kept low, Shami displayed what it takes for a fast bowler to succeed on such a surface.
The match also witnessed the most number of sixes – 37 from four innings – surpassing the 35 that were smashed in a game between Pakistan and New Zealand in 2014-15.
Rohit got 13 of those sixes, the most in a five-day game by one batsman, breaking Wasim Akram's record of 12 for Pakistan.
And it was Rohit who led the way for India with his magnificent efforts with the bat. "Thanks to everyone for giving me that opportunity but the focus was on winning the match," he said.
"The communication to me happened a couple of years ago that I might open at some stage. So even when I wasn't playing Tests, I was batting against the new balls in the nets.
"No matter what ball you play, red or white, if you are starting the innings, you need to be careful.
"That's my game is all about, a bit of caution and a bit of aggression. The whole focus was to go out there and have fun."
It was the third straight win in as many matches for top-ranked side India in the World Test Championships. The second Test starts at Pune from Thursday.