India level series against SA: plays of the match and a poor venue
Image: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
India won the second Test against the Proteas at Newlands by seven wickets in two days.
TimesLIVE identifies the plays of the match:
INNINGS
Aiden Markram was very special. He possibly undermined it himself by speaking about all the good luck he had, but that is how it works in this sport.
He was dismissed by two jaffas in his other knocks in this series and was deserving of a smile from Lady Luck. Besides, had she not, it would have robbed the crowd and the TV audience of some spectacular shot-making; stylish cover drives, lofted on-drives and of course that glorious six onto the railways line.
SPELL
A bit like Markram having some good fortune, the same could be said of Mohammed Siraj. He bowled exceptionally well in Centurion, and beat the bat on numerous occasions.
Here, he found the edge in that stunning spell on the opening morning, when he bowled unchanged for nine overs from the Wynberg End, to pick up 6/15.
India's captain Rohit Sharma praises his men after their seven-wicket victory over South Africa 🗣
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) January 4, 2024
He believes that the team have shown their ability to compete anywhere in the world 🏏#WozaNawe | #BePartOfIt
RECORDS
This was a match full of them, lowest totals, most ducks in an innings, scoring a hundred when the next highest score is 12 among numerous others. When it finished it officially registered as the shortest of all time in terms of balls bowled — 642.
CATCHES
Twenty two of the 33 dismissals fell to catches taken behind the stumps, an illustration of how difficult the players found batting on a surface where the bounce was so inconsistent. That said, the catching was outstanding by both teams, with only India wicketkeeper KL Rahul making an error when he offered Markram a life on 73.
NEWLANDS
This venue is historic and the New Year’s Test is supposedly the most important match on the calendar in this country. Besides the pitch, the venue itself is in urgent need of an upgrade. Weeds growing between cracks in the wall, paint peeling, a messy outfield and amenities in some stands that are falling apart or not working.
Cricket SA put in over R20m from its own coffers to ensure the match could be held here — paying for vendors among other things — and Western Province Cricket needs to urgently address the many problems plaguing the union if it wants the ground to remain a first class international venue. Right now it isn’t.
TimesLIVE