South Africa secured a decisive 2-0 sweep by defeating India by 408 runs in the second Test of the two-match series. The Proteas destroyed the hosts at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, and Temba Bavuma, the Test captain, maintained his perfect record.
India dominated the first day’s play after reducing the opposition to 247/6 at stumps after being placed into field first. No one was able to take advantage of the several beginnings in the South African innings. Kuldeep Yadav had taken three wickets by the end of the day.
But in a powerful comeback on the second day, Senuran Muthusamy (109 off 206) and Marco Jansen (93 off 91) led their side to 489. The Bavuma-led team obviously controlled the day as India finished 9/0 in 6.1 overs, undefeated.
With the exception of Yashasvi Jaiswal (58) and Washington Sundar (48), nobody was able to make a significant contribution as Marco Jansen’s six-wicket haul saw India finish at 201. Instead of enforcing the follow-on, South Africa chose to bat again.
After batting for the majority of the fourth day, the Proteas declared at 260/5 after starting the fourth day at 26/0. Four of the five wickets that fell were taken by Ravindra Jadeja. By the end of play, India was already two runs below their 549-run mark.
India was dismissed for 140 runs by Simon Harmer, who claimed five more wickets on the last day. India suffered their largest defeat in Test history by a margin of 408 runs. More than 40 years have passed since India was last defeated in two consecutive home Test series.
Who Made What Remark?
Rishabh Pant (Losing Captain)
It’s little disappointing. As a team we need to get better. We need to give credit to the opposition. We need to take the learning and stick as a team. They dominated the series but at the same time, you can’t take credit for granted. We needed to be clear with our mindset. In the future, we need to learn from it and get better. They played better cricket, cricket demands that you need to capitalise as a team. And we did not do that and that cost us the whole series. The positive will be focusing in our own plan and that’s what we will take from this series.
Marco Jansen (Player of the Match)
Winning any game is a nice feeling and winning in India is special. It’s a team performance. We spoke about sticking to our own things. If it works it works. Got to give credit to Shuks (Conri Shukrad), he told me to go out and play my game. I was nervous in the first Test. Everyone is working hard, our prep as a team and in an individual capacity. We see where we can get better and on the field we give our best.
Simon Harmer (Player of the Series)
Like I said in the last Test, it’s been a long road. 10 years later, completely different feeling. Will leave with a lot more fonder memories from then. To beat a very good Indian team is a hell of an effort. I was just watching our second innings, after 40 overs, the ball got softer and it became easier. But there was the odd-ball, the ball that Rishabh got. Nice to contribute, nice to get wickets and nice to get a fifer in India. I think in the 2nd innings we knew they would bat for their lives, they put hell of a fight.
But we knew if we put it in the right areas, things would happen. Sharp catches from Markram in the slips and Jansen as well which helps. When I’m bowling from that end, I felt it was a left-hander’s wicket, Temba asked me to change and a great decision from him and happy to get the wickets. Kesh’s record speaks for itself, he deserves to be the number one spinner and I’m happy to play the supporting role. When given a chance, I’m happy to play the supporting role. I didn’t bat well, Jasprit had my number. Another county stint with Essex, few games with the Titans, that’s what is next.
Temba Bavuma (Winning Captain)
It’s massive. For me personally, been out of the game for a couple of months with injury. Not every day you can come to India and walk away with a 2-0 series win. What’s special is we had dark days as a group and it’s a credit to them. There’s a big shift in our mindsets in terms of what we want to do. I think our preparation is something – guys go out there looking to contribute. Anyone on their day can do it for their team – that’s the belief. As a team we are really in a good space.
The way we performed here will grow our confidence even more. That’s a big thing, everyone wants to know where they stand. Guys want to be the man for their team. Everyone has contributed. We don’t see big 100s but we have got 4-5 guys contributing. I can go on and on about my team but yeah. Simon has the experience of playing here in India in 2015, he complements Keshav quite well. Bit more guile with the ball, it’s a struggle to take the ball out of their hands. Simon was the man for us this series.
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