TALKING POINTS
Follow UsShardul and Prasidh let India down big time
On Day 2, South Africa raced to 256/5 off just 56 overs and much of it was down to them feasting on the inconsistency and ineffectiveness of India’s third and fourth seamers, Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna. Nearly 44% of the runs South Africa scored on the day came off the duo, who registered a combined economy rate of 4.14 while the others went at 3.23 across 39 overs.
READ: India's poor day with the ball gives SA the advantage
Heading into Day 3, with the game still in the balance, India needed a far-improved showing from their support bowlers but in a horror 90-minute period, Shardul and Prasidh handed the first session to South Africa on a platter.
After a tight start from Bumrah and Siraj (12 runs in the first 6 overs), Rohit introduced Prasidh, who had bowled a decent final spell on Day 2. But the debutant released the pressure instantly, conceding 8 runs off his first over of the day.
Between them, Bumrah & Siraj bowled six boundary-less overs but Prasidh conceded back-to-back boundaries instantly, the second of the two being a leg-stump full toss. He conceded 16 more runs off his next 2 overs before getting taken out of the attack.
He was then replaced by Shardul, who did no better, leaking 14 off his first 2 overs. He was taken down by Jansen, who after a slow start (27 off 64 balls), got going after feasting on a couple of half-volleys outside off from the right-armer.
By the time Rohit pulled the plug on both Shardul and Prasidh, South Africa had raced to 311, stretching their lead to 66.
Shardul eventually provided the breakthrough by dismissing Elgar just before lunch, but, by then, it was too late: the session was lost and the game had drifted away from the visitors.
Undoubtedly, India were handicapped by the loss of Mohammed Shami, but the showing of their back-up bowlers leaves a lot to be desired. They dropped the ball on a surface in which the batting side was there for the taking, especially with them missing a key cog in Temba Bavuma.
READ: Another bowling failure, another Test defeat for India
Shubman Gill’s inability to step up in away Tests is hurting India
Making the transition from Pujara-Rahane to Iyer-Gill was always going to be tricky for India, but Gill’s inability to pile on the runs outside the subcontinent is hurting the side big time.
The 91 at the Gabba is still fresh in the minds of everyone but that was nearly three years ago.
After that Gabba epic, Gill has played six Tests (11 innings) outside the subcontinent and has amassed just 161 runs at an average of 16.10. He’s not posted a single 50-plus score in these games, with his highest score reading 29* against the West Indies.
Admittedly, South Africa is one of the toughest (if not the toughest) places to tour for a batter, and it’s hard to point figures after two failures on a juicy surface. But Gill is no longer a youngster finding his feet at the Test level, having debuted nearly three years ago and having gotten 19 Tests under his belt.
For a player of his caliber, an average of 31.06 (which drops to 28.00 outside the subcontinent) is extremely middling, especially when you consider that there’s been no paucity of exposure (to different conditions) due to him being a white-ball regular.
India’s batting woes extend beyond Gill alone, but he is the ‘senior-most’ batter in the trio consisting himself, Jaiswal & Iyer, which is why the team can’t afford for him to be a non-factor away from home. While Jaiswal is extremely young and raw, the jury is still out on Iyer the Test batter. Amidst this, Gill not scoring runs will spell disaster for the side.
‘Off-colour’ Marco Jansen showcases his x-factor
In the absence of Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen entered the Centurion Test as the ‘second-most experienced’ South African pacer, but the 23-year-old’s showing on the first day of the Test screamed inexperience. On a perfect bowling day, Jansen got his radar completely wrong and failed to support Rabada, who was breathing fire from the other end.
Jansen was so ordinary and off-colour that he induced just 14.5% false shots in an innings in which every other South African bowler drew at least 23% false shots.
On Day 3, however, the 23-year-old showcased his utility not just as a bowler but a cricketer, creating a huge impact with both bat and ball.
With the bat, Jansen walked in with South Africa in a tricky position at 249/5, having lost two wickets in quick succession. The game was in the balance, with the lead reading just 4. Prior to the Test, the right-hander had an average of just 17.80 at home (with just one score over 20) but, on the day, Jansen smashed an unbeaten 84 to effectively bat India out of the game. He stitched a mammoth 111-run stand with Elgar to shut out hopes of an India comeback.
Then, with the ball, despite starting off erratically, he punched a huge hole in the Indian middle-order by sending both Gill and Iyer packing, with full balls from ‘round the wicket. Both wickets were massive: while the 39-run Kohli & Gill stand was ended at just the right time, removing Iyer early was necessary too, for the right-hander had stitched together a 68-run stand with Kohli in the first innings.
Truth be told, Jansen was far from his best in this Test, but that he still made a massive difference shows the quality and x-factor he possesses.
Nandre Burger shows he is ready for Test cricket
Post the toss, India would have been happy not having to face Ngidi, who tormented them with 15 wickets @ 15.00 in the previous tour, but Nandre Burger, on debut, ensured that the Proteas did not miss Ngidi even for a second.
Burger had impressed in both the ODIs and T20Is with his pace but nobody quite knew if he would be able to translate that into a solid showing with the red ball. However, the left-arm tearaway, in a quite remarkable showing, pocketed 7 wickets @ 11.85 a piece to maul India and help the hosts extend their winning streak at home over the visitors.
Burger both set-up and finished the Test off for South Africa.
In the first innings, his double-strike in the first hour (the wickets of Gill & Jaiswal) laid the carpet for Rabada to wreak havoc. In the second innings, meanwhile, he delivered the knockout punch by pocketing the wickets of Jaiswal, Rahul & Ashwin.
Bowling fast is something a lot of bowlers do but there are not too many quicks that can make the ball dance at pace in a controlled manner, consistently. In the first innings, Burger bowled ‘great balls’ and ‘great overs’ while struggling a bit for consistency, but he put the pieces together in the second innings and tormented India.
On Day 3, the left-armer got the ball moving both ways at pace - to which the Indian batters had no answers whatsoever. He induced a staggering 28.3% false strokes in the third innings, which was 10% more than Rabada, the Proteas’ best bowler in the game.
The 28-year-old removed Jaiswal with some hostile bowling but the icing on the cake was the dismissal of Rahul. He set up the centurion from the first innings from ‘round the wicket in perfect fashion, eventually getting him nick one to the slip cordon.
Rabada. Ngidi. Nortje. Jansen. Coetzee. Add Burger to this list too.
Ashwin puts up admirable showing in hell-ish conditions
South Africa, in general, is not a friendly country for spinners but Centurion, of late, has been a spinner’s graveyard: heading into this Test, a staggering 93% of the wickets at the venue since 2018 had been taken by seamers, with the quicks averaging 22.8 compared to spinners’ 61.9.
So when India drafted Ravi Ashwin into the XI as a late replacement for Ravindra Jadeja, they were essentially feeding him to the wolves.
Ashwin was completely up against the conditions on a seamer-friendly wicket, but the veteran did an admirable job, keeping things tight. Though the seamers were getting hit all over the park, though South Africa had utmost control of the contest for the entirety of their innings, Ashwin tied the batters down in an unresponsive wicket, conceding just 41 runs off the 19 overs he bowled, delivering more maidens than any other bowler.
Elgar, South Africa’s best batter in the first innings, scored at nearly 70 against the seamers but could only manage 18 off the 47 balls he faced against Ashwin. The respect Elgar showed to Ashwin, despite the wicket not assisting spin, was a testament to the veteran’s quality.
Ashwin finished with one wicket but could — arguably should — have finished with three to his name. KL Rahul and Gill both squandered straightforward chances that should have been taken. Rahul, in fact, put down Jansen (off Ashwin) on 25; the right-hander went on to post an unbeaten 84.
