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The first drop catch of the Cape Town Test could have proven costly for India. Aiden Markram batting on 73 was on a roll. He had raced past fifty and seemed to be batting on another surface altogether. India had picked up five wickets inside the first session, unsurprisingly, but the one man they wanted to get rid of the most was batting on. Then came a pivotal moment. Jasprit Bumrah, who had celebrated the 9th five-wicket-haul, induced a false stroke from Markram, who wanted to smoke the ball into the stands but only managed to edge it.
This should have been it, right? Wrong. KL Rahul dropped a simple catch and offered a reprieve to Markram. There was no looking back. The veteran batter unleashed an array of sparkling strokeplay en route to scoring his 7th Test century. In the process, South Africa took the lead and extended it beyond 50. Sure, this may not be the biggest of targets but given how a manic Day 1 unfolded, even a 70-80 run target could be made to look as big as 200.
Even though it was Markram who reached his 100 with a nudge past gully for four, Dean Elgar celebrated it louder. The stand-in South Africa captain, playing his farewell Test, got up from his seat and sent out a thunderous roar. Elgar himself paid tribute to his teammate, gesturing back with a left-arm defense. Markram’s onslaught had left India clueless, to an extent that the bowlers’ lines and lengths were disturbed. He was playing as if it was either a T20 or the last two overs of an ODI innings. Good on South Africa that all the risks he took paid off, including smoking Prasidh Krishna for 20 runs in an over.
Also Read: India vs South Africa Live Score 2nd Test, Day 2
But with seven wickets down, it was only a matter of time before Markram’s luck ran out. He top-edged a ball from Mohammed Siraj which Rohit Sharma grabbed comfortably. The India captain’s reaction summed it up perfectly as he slammed the ball on the ground with force in celebration of the wicket. Surprisingly, it was only Siraj’s second over of the day, with Rohit forced to turn to him after Prasidh and Mukesh Kumar were starting to bleed runs.
Bumrah’s legend grows
If Siraj did the job for India on Day 1, 24 hours later, it was Bumrah inflicting the same damage on South Africa. It took him three balls to snuff out the first wicket, getting David Bedingham out caught behind and then Kyle Verreynne. Shortly after, Bumrah completed a stunning caught and bowled to send Marco Jansen back bringing South Africa down to their last three wickets.
Prasidh was finally rewarded for not giving up as right after Markram’s wicket, Rabada slapped him to Rohit at mid-off. Bumrah returned for his second spell and took out Lungi Ngidi to dismiss the Proteas for 176, finishing with 6/61 and setting India 79 to win. This is Bumrah’s third Test five-for in South Africa, drawing level with Javagal Srinath. He has also become the third highest Indian wicket taker in South Africa (38) behind Srinath and Anil Kumble.
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