Following India’s seven-wicket win over South Africa in the second Test, pacer Jasprit Bumrah expressed happiness over the win at the very ground where he made his Test cricket debut.
Bumrah’s second-inning six-wicket haul made all the difference as, despite Aiden Markram’s ton, South Africa could set only 79 for India to wrap up this Test in around 1.5 days, which India chased down successfully.
Following the win, Bumrah took to Instagram, expressing his joy over the team’s dominant performance. “Special day, special match,” said the caption of Bumrah’s post.
Bumrah was crowned as India’s ‘Player of the Series’, taking 12 wickets in two matches, with the best figures of 6/61. He also took a four-wicket haul in the first Test at Centurion and ended as the leading wicket-taker in the series.
Following the match, Bumrah said in the post-match presentation, “This ground will always hold a special place in my heart. It was always a dream to play Test cricket and the journey started here, there is always fond memories of my first game. Very happy that it went well today as well. That journey started in 2018 – our bowling unit was experienced and we wanted to create an impact. We knew that if we wanted to do well in foreign conditions, we would have to bowl a lot more and consistently.”
“In India, the spinners do a lot more work. The vision started from there. Our team is also going through a transition. A lot of the bowlers have been changed, but the message is still the same, you have to keep fighting. It is not easy playing in South Africa, different conditions, the crowd are also something. We fought it out in the last game as well. It is difficult to keep coming at it because it requires a lot of strength and patience. If you lose it, in one session, the game goes out of your hand.”
“We are very happy that we were able to do it in this game. I did not expect the game to go this fast, I have never played a shorter Test match in my life. Looking at the wicket on the first day, nobody really thought that this much was going to happen. We wanted to bat first as well. Test cricket gives you surprises. Very happy that we got our first win (in Cape Town), a great series and a fighting series,” he concluded.
Coming to the match, South Africa elected to bat first and was bundled out for just 55 in 23.2 overs, with Kyle Verreynne (15) and David Bedingham (12) being the sole players to touch double digits. Mohammed Siraj’s fiery spell of 6/15 destroyed the Proteas’ top and middle order, while Jasprit Bumrah (2/25) and Mukesh Kumar (0/2) also took wickets.
In their first innings, India was 153/4 at one point, with solid scores coming from Virat Kohli (46 in 59 balls, with six fours and a six), Rohit Sharma (39 in 50 balls, with seven fours) and Shubman Gill (36 in 55 balls, with five fours), but a Lungi Ngidi three-wicket over sunk India to 153 all out in 34.5 overs. Ngidi (3/30), Kagiso Rabada (3/38) and Nandre Burger (3/42) took three wickets each for SA.
Later in their second innings, SA ended the day one at 62/3, with Aiden Markram (36*) doing the bulk of the scoring. Skipper Dean Elgar managed 12 runs in his final Test innings. Mukesh got two while Bumrah got one wicket. On the next day, though Markram scored a fighting century, a knock of 106 in 103 balls with 17 fours and two sixes, the six-wicket haul by Bumrah (6/61) bundled out SA for 176 in 36.5 overs, setting India just 79 runs to win.
Mukesh Kumar took two wickets while Prasidh Krishna and Siraj got one.
With the help of knocks from openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (28) and skipper Rohit Sharma (16*), India chased down the total with seven wickets in hand in 12 overs.
Siraj won the ‘Player of the Match’ award and both sides shared the trophy with the scoreline at 1-1.
