cAPETOWN, Jan 4
Imagine the kind of mayhem 23 wickets falling in one day in Asia would create, leave aside the criticism of the surface. During England’s tour of India in 2021, the first Test ended inside two days on a rank-turner at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with the fast bowlers taking only two of the 30 wickets to fall. All that resulted in criticisms from various quarters.
Cut to India’s tour of South Africa in 2023-24, neither of two Test matches lasted the entirety, but despite that there have been no words against the curator. Lasting just 642 balls, the second game in Cape Town was the shortest Test ever to produce a result in Test history.
While it remains to be seen how the ICC match referee Chris Broad rates the track, what mattered for India is the 7-wicket victory, helping them square the series 1-1.
The final frontier continues to be unbreachable for India, but they will still return home with their first ever Test win in Cape Town in nine tours to the Rainbow Nation.
Returning to action on Day 2, India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah produced a sensational six-wicket haul to dismiss the hosts for 176, built mainly around Aiden Markram’s fighting 106, to set up India’s victory before the batters completed the formalities by overhauling the meager target of 79.
It took just six balls for India to strike on the second morning with David Bedingham (11) nicking Bumrah’s final ball of the first over behind to KL Rahul while going for a drive on the up against a ball pitched on good length.
Bedingham, who came out with a positive mindset had earlier struck Bumrah’s second ball of the over for a boundary over the slip cordon.
Having resumed the day at 62 for 3, the Proteas were soon down to 66 for 4, and soon Bumrah ran through the middle and lower order. Wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne was the next man to fall to Bumrah after mistiming his pull shot and ending up at the hands of Mohammed Siraj at mid-on. Marco Jansen hung on for a bit, hitting a couple of boundaries, but was undone by a stunning return catch by Bumrah, leaving the Proteas 103 for 6.
At the other end, Markram went about his business playing some pristine shots on a treacherous surface but his drives through extra cover brought him a majority of his runs, including his fifty off Mukesh Kumar.
Bumrah, meanwhile, kept applying the pressure from the other end, and in the process completed his 9th five-wicket haul in Test cricket when he had Keshav Maharaj slicing a full delivery to Shreyas Iyer at gully to reduce the hosts to 117 for 7, and with a slender lead of 19 runs.
With Kagiso Rabada at the other end, Markram, who survived a dropped chance on 73 when Rahul dropped him off Bumrah, the right-handed opener decided to launch the counter-attack and picked the weakest link among the Indian bowlers – Prasidh Krishna for a couple of fours and sixes to storm into the 90s. Markram was quick to reach his 7th Test century with back-to-back boundaries off Bumrah, and soon walked back to a standing ovation after scoring a 103-ball 106 when he miscued a short delivery from Siraj for Rohit Sharma to complete the catch at long-off.
In the next over, Rabada also fell to Krishna, while Bumrah returned for another over to pack Lungi Ngidi, and complete his six-wicket haul, leaving India with a target of 79 runs after the lunch break. India chased down the target, losing three wickets an hour before tea, with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scoring with a 23-ball 28.
