Pacer Jasprit Bumrah expressed his happiness after India defeated South Africa by seven wickets in the second Test on the pitch where he made his Test cricket debut. Bumrah’s six-wicket haul in the second inning proved to be crucial as India successfully chased down South Africa’s meagre score of 79 to end the Test in approximately 1.5 days, even with a century from Aiden Markram. Bumrah expressed his happiness on Instagram after the team’s victory, highlighting their dominating performance. “Special day, special match,” Bumrah wrote as the post’s caption.
Bumrah, who claimed 12 wickets in two matches, including the best figures of 6/61, was named India’s “Player of the Series.” In the first Test at Centurion, he also claimed four wickets, making him the series’ top wicket-taker. In the post-match speech after the game, Bumrah declared, “This ground will always hold a special place in my heart.” I will always cherish my first Test match experience; playing Test cricket was always a dream of mine, and the journey began here. I’m glad that everything went smoothly today as well. We set out on this journey in 2018 because we wanted to make a difference and our bowling unit was experienced.”
“Spinners in India put in a lot more work. That’s where the vision began. There is a change occurring within our team as well. The lesson remains the same, even though many of the bowlers have changed: you must never give up. Playing in South Africa presents a challenge due to the varying weather and the energy of the crowd. In the previous game, we also engaged in combat. It takes a lot of patience and strength, so it is hard to keep going at it. You lose control of the game if you lose it in a single session.”
“We’re overjoyed that we succeeded in this game. I have never played a shorter Test match in my life, so I was not prepared for the game to go this quickly. When everyone first saw the wicket on the first day, they had no idea this much was going to happen. Additionally, we desired to bat first. You get surprises when you play test cricket. Extremely pleased with our first victory (in Cape Town), a fantastic series, and a competitive series,” he ends. Prior to the game, South Africa chose to bat first. They were bowled out for just 55 runs in 23.2 overs, with the only two players to reach double digits being Kyle Verreynne (15) and David Bedingham (12). The top and middle order of the Proteas was destroyed by Mohammed Siraj’s explosive 6/15 spell, which also included wickets from Jasprit Bumrah (2/25) and Mukesh Kumar (0/2).
India was 153/4 at one point in their first innings thanks to strong scores from Shubman Gill (36 in 55 balls, five fours), Rohit Sharma (39 in 50 balls, seven fours), and Virat Kohli (46 in 59 balls, six fours and a six). However, a three-wicket over from Lungi Ngidi saw India out of the game in 34.5 overs. For South Africa, Ngidi (3/30), Kagiso Rabada (3/38) and Nandre Burger (3/42) each claimed three wickets. With Aiden Markram (36*) accounting for most of the scoring, SA concluded the first day at 62/3 later in their second innings. Dean Elgar, the captain, scored 12 runs in his last innings of the Test. Bumrah took one wicket, while Mukesh took two.
The following day, despite a valiant century from Markram (106 in 103 balls with 17 fours and 2 sixes), India needed just 79 runs to win thanks to Bumrah’s six-wicket haul (6/61). SA was dismissed for 176 in 36.5 overs. Siraj and Prasidh Krishna each claimed one wicket, while Mukesh Kumar claimed two. India chased down the total with seven wickets remaining in 12 overs thanks to blows from opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (28) and captain Rohit Sharma (16*). With a 1-1 score, Siraj was named the “Player of the Match” and both teams shared the trophy.
