India's mercurial fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah produced two magical deliveries towards the ending stages on the fourth day's play in the opening Test at Centurion’s SuperSport park to leave South Africa tottering at 94/4, in pursuit of 305 to win, on Wednesday.
Even though there are predictions of rain and unruly weather providing hurdles in India's march in the first Test towards a big victory, the visiting team will be confident knowing that they have plenty of penetration in their bowling line-up to spark batting collapses and force results within specified time period.
India will certainly draw inspiration from their magnificent performance in the final session against England at Lord's earlier this year, wherein they took the last six wickets to record a massive victory by 151 runs. The margin could be similar against South Africa on Thursday, given that the home team is in need of 211 runs more to win but do not have enough batting left in their ranks, thanks to India's relentless fast bowlers.
Mohammed Shami got rid of South Africa opening batsman Aiden Markram in the second over of the innings to set the ball rolling for his team. But rather than throwing in the towel, South Africa decided to give India a strong fight and make the world No 1 team’s bowlers hard for their wickets.
But despite South Africa captain Dean Elgar dropping down the anchor and playing a key role in two stubborn partnerships — 33 runs from 76 balls with Keegan Petersen (17) for the second wicket followed by a 40-run stand with Rassie van der Dussen (11) for the third — India remained favourite to take a vital 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
If Shami was the star among Indian bowlers in the first innings, it looked like Bumrah would steal the show in the second, having produced two outstanding deliveries in the dying stages of play on the fourth day to grab a couple of wickets.
South Africa middle-order batsman Rassie van der Dussen has a watertight technique and is known for his temperament and skills to bat for long periods in time. While he did so on Wednesday, facing 65 balls to make 11, the right-handed batsman had an error in judgement which was capitalised by Bumrah's brilliance.
Van der Dussen shouldered his arms on a delivery which pitched outside the line of the off stump, but came back in sharply to crash into the top of the off-stump, with Bumrah producing a magical delivery that left the South African batsman bamboozled.
South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj can be a handy batsman particularly when it is required to drop the anchor and not look for runs. Perhaps Bumrah knew this trait from Maharaj to produce something magical once again, nailing down a perfect yorker which crashed into the middle and leg stumps of the South Africa nightwatchman, on what turned out to be a final delivery of the penultimate day in the first Test.
South Africa were struggling at 94/4 and have all the hopes pinned on captain Elgar, who has done well to reach 52 not out from 122 balls with the help of 7 boundaries. The home team also have some more batting firepower left in their second innings with Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock and Wiaan Mulder in particular are expected to force a draw with the help of unruly weather on Thursday.
Indeed, there is a weather prediction of rains particularly after 1:00 PM local time and India will be cautious about the fact that bad weather can deny them a possible victory and a vital 1-0 lead in the series for the Freedom Trophy 2021, unless they make crucial and swift breakthroughs when play resumes on Thursday.
While the Indian players returned to the dressing room with smile on their faces at the close of play, the expression was certainly different in the afternoon session when none of them could accelerate or produce an innings worth mentioning.
India explosive wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant top scored with a run-a-ball 34 whereas the new vice captain KL Rahul made 23. The Indian middle-order consisting their most seasoned batsmen disappointed once again as Cheteshwar Pujara, who faced as many as 64 balls, could make only 16 before being caught behind by de Kock off Lungi Ngidi.
Virat Kohli once again chased a delivery placed outside his off stump looking for an expansive cover drive, but edged it behind to de Kock to fall for 18, for which he faced 32 balls and hit four boundaries off Marco Jansen. With this, Kohli ended a second consecutive year without having scored a century in any format for India. His last Test century came all the way back in November 2019, against Bangladesh.
The embattled former India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane once again showed aggressive intent and hit a few spectacular strokes, but his refusal to not attack short balls did him in. Rahane was surprised when a hook shot landed in the hands of van der Dussen off Jansen at deep square leg. Rahane made 20 from 23 balls with the help of three boundaries and one six.
None of the Indian batsmen could either make a strong impression or get to a big score as the visitors were bowled out for 174 in 50.3 overs, with a 130-run lead — thanks to Shami’s 5/44 in the first things — ensuring that South Africa would chase a total in excess of 305 runs.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
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