The Indian team’s victory over South Africa by seven wickets in two days in the second Test at Newlands on Thursday, according to skipper Rohit Sharma, demonstrated their global versatility.
Despite a magnificent century by home batsman Aiden Markram, India recovered from an innings loss in the first Test match in Centurion to split the two-match series. They chased down a target of 79 an hour after lunch.
Man of the match Mohammed Siraj, who took six for 15 in the first over as South Africa was bowled out for 55 before lunch on the opening day, set up the triumph.
A wicket characterised by speed, seam movement, and irregular bounce caused batters to struggle throughout the match, with the exception of Markram, who scored 106 runs off 103 balls in South Africa’s second innings of 176.
“Even though the conditions were tough for the batters the bowlers still had to get the ball in the right areas,” Sharma said.
“We played solid batting to take a 100-run advantage. We were aware that the game would be brief and that each run was significant. For us, getting that lead was crucial.
“It’s always difficult to go to this area of the globe, but over the last four or five years, we have improved as a traveling squad.
“For us to come out here and win like this gives us a lot of confidence that we can perform under any conditions.”
In his last game before quitting international cricket, South Africa’s acting captain, Dean Elgar, acknowledged that the hosts had misjudged the surface when they chose to bat first after winning the toss.
Elgar was awarded a player of the series along with Jasprit Bumrah. “To the naked eye it looked like quite a nice one but it played totally different from what everyone thought it would play,” Elgar remarked.
“We had a difficult one.
“We had a really optimistic mindset going into this match.
“With the bat, the first innings destroyed us. India made excellent use of the circumstances and brought their energy.”
Markram and Bumrah engaged in a pitched fight on the second morning after the first day’s 23 wicket loss.
When the batsman edged a drive on run 71 and wicketkeeper KL Rahul could not hold a catch over his head, the Indian bowler, who had taken six for 61, was not able to remove Markram from the game.
Markram overcame a surface where Virat Kohli’s 46 in India’s first innings was the next-highest individual score.
In both innings, Markram’s teammates’ next-best total was 15.
Markram struck two sixes and seventeen fours, one of which, off Prasidh Krishna, flew over square leg and into a railway line.
Siraj attempted another huge shot, but Indian skipper Rohit Sharma ultimately snagged the 29-year-old at mid-off.