India vs South Africa: India grind out not-so-perfect win in quickest Test in Cape Town

Despite their wait for a series victory in South Africa never seeming to end, Team India had the last laugh in the second Test in Cape Town on Thursday. It wasn’t far from perfect, but that win wasn’t perfect either. Given the manner in which South Africa folded out for 55 in the first innings after opting to bat first (A decision which was in itself questionable), not many would have foreshadowed India’s dramatic collapse for a meagre 153. More than the bowlers, it was the batters whose performance was under question.

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And rightly so. While Rohit Sharma (39) and Shubman Gill (36) had forged a 55-run stand for the second wicket in India’s first innings, none of the batters barring Virat Kohli (46) were able to capitalise on that stand. There were talks of “pace and bounce” becoming a factor ahead of this Test, and it did seem like the visitors came underprepared with the bat for this Test.

KL Rahul was victim of a loose shot he played, and was undone by the extra bounce against Kagiso Rabada, Shreyas Iyer looked a shadow of himself and Ravindra Jadeja too fell victim to the extra bounce against Lungi Nigidi. There was chaos in that middle order, utter chaos. Nandre Burger’s length balls dismissed Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, and early on in the innings, he had decimated Rohit Sharma with some extra bounce.

Kagiso Rabada, too, managed to get Kohli and Prasidh Krishna to wrap up the Indian innings, but those dismissals were sandwiched between a chaotic run-out involving Siraj and Prasidh, wherein the former was a victim of miscommunication between the two to be run-out at the non-strikers’ end.

Fast forward 24 hours later, the way India got dismissed was a thing of the past. In a sport like cricket, a certain incident that made the headlines one day can be easily forgotten the next day. On Thursday, Team India looked to move on from that batting nightmare where they lost six wickets for no runs at all.

Wickets kept tumbling early on the in the first session on Thursday, although not in the same intensity as a day prior.

At one stage, the Proteas on Thursday found themselves in a similar position to that of India. They found themselves at 103/6 following the dismissal of Marco Jansen, but needed something special. And special it was, from Aiden Markram.

Markram showcased why he could be the cornerstone of South Africa’s batting in the Proteas’ post-Elgar era, and it’s his resilience and willingness to go that extra mile that helped him put on a brilliant display. In fact, it’s a pity that there was hardly anyone who could support him, because that knock from Markram would have otherwise gone a long way in potentially reviving South Africa’s hopes.

He only found support from Rabada, when the two forged a 51-run stand for the eighth wicket. Markram did most of the talking with the bat, whereas Rabada played the role of a moral supporter.

Both of Markram’s maximums in his 103-ball knock came against the inexperienced Prasidh Krishna. Prasidh himself looked clueless with the ball for most of the duration of the Test match, and for the first maximum, Markram went over square leg with a pull shot off Prasidh’s short ball.

Two balls later, Prasidh attempted the full length ball outside off, that allowed Markram to put his front foot and thump over long-on.

The game was, however, once again in India’s hands once Markram was dismissed by Siraj in the 32^nd over, and it was a matter of time before the hosts were bundled out.

Siraj’s six-star spell

One of the major takeaways from the game was Mohammed Siraj. While six years back in Newlands in 2018, it was Jasprit Bumrah who announced his arrival to the Test arena, this time, it was Siraj. Only that Siraj had already made his Test debut before.

But, if it was anything, it was about Siraj scaling new heights. Siraj has established himself as one of India’s three frontline pacers along with Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah in limited-overs cricket, but this time, in Cape Town, it was about establishing himself as a reliable pacer. Someone who can adapt to certain conditions.

Taking back special memories from Cape Town