India (153 & 80/3) defeat South Africa (55 & 176) by 7 wickets to draw the series 1-1

[The Bald Eagle]

Dean Elgar's comments today after the conclusion of 2nd Test against India :

"I would have liked to do more in this game. Still very proud of my performance I had in Centurion. Nice to contribute to a winning cause. Some really tough conditions throughout. It (3-Test series) would have been fantastic,”

“You want to challenge yourself, Bumrah is world-class, he deserves this award. You want to push yourself to limits. Glad that I don’t have to face these guys again. Fond memories. We've come a long way. Very grateful to play against these guys. A lot of good memories, I received it (green cap) in 2012, I have missed only one series. It's got a special place. Only leaves for duty, that's done and dusted,”

 

[ufcfan]

So home and away against every single opposition , Indians have lost one test series against NZ in NZ.

It has been a really dominating performance from Indians and pretty much due to having ATG bowling unit. It's going to end but extremely dominating performance in the last 5 years.

ATG bowling?core attack is fading

 

[Buffet]

ATG bowling?core attack is fading

How many bowling units in history of cricket has averaged around 25 or below home and away both for a long duration like 7-8 years? Surely an ATG bowling unit.

Yes, it's fading and done I think. It's not going to be the same. Comment was about the last 7-8 years.

 

[BaaliSoda]

I read a post it is more likely Pakistan will beat Australia at the SCG than India beating SA at Newlands. lol

Pakistan haven't won a single Test in the Southern Hemisphere in 13 years. Not sure how folks can post stuff like that with such confidence.

It was from a BD fan lol

LOL! I know who this poster is. He always seems to have a chip on his shoulder when it comes to anything related to Indian cricket and will go to any length to belittle us.

Jokes aside, this was an unlikely turnaround for us despite having a team full of freeloaders (so many of them, it is just not a declining team which they are but a team of misfits for the format) and an inept coaching staff (starting with Dravid) of the highest order.

Moving forward, it would be prudent for our think tank to discard the likes of Prasidh, Shreyas, etc from getting selected to our test squad (one can only hope). They are just not meant for this format (in Prasidh's case I doubt he will be of any good in any format for us with his scattergun bowling, non-existing batting, and awful fielding abilities).

Lastly, Congratulations to fellow Indian PPers and ICT well-wishers! and commiserations to naysayers/ICT haters (you know who you are)

 

[Champ_Pal]

And if KL fails at middle order then what next? Specialist keeper? He got continuous chance at every position to cement his place.. Samson got very few, despite that he had good outing in odi but he still not good enough? Just admit you don't like Samson..

KL has performed brilliantky so far in middle order.

Looks like Samson fans are out in full force today.

 

[Champ_Pal]

Just as I thought, Indians are slow starters in away tours. This deserved a 3rd Test.

 

[jnaveen1980]

From SA.perspective they have great talent pool especially with respect to pace bowling. Burger was mighty impressive. Bit erratic. He reminds me a lot of Mitchell Johnson. Jansen is also nicely evolving. They need to consider changing the nature of some of the pitches. They need some.spin pitches. Otherwise they will continue to be poor in subcontinent.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Rohit: Cape Town win 'right up there' with Gabba​

Yea right lol Nowhere close to Gabba. That was achieved with so many noobs, makeshift captain on their fortress in a do or die game for Australia.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Just as I thought, Indians are slow starters in away tours. This deserved a 3rd Test.

This two test series doesn't make any sense to me at all it means almost 10 days of cricket and still there's no winner of the series

Series should take place in odd numbers so that there is at least a chance of getting a series winner

 

[Swashbuckler]

Rohit: Cape Town win 'right up there' with Gabba​

Yea right lol Nowhere close to Gabba. That was achieved with so many noobs, makeshift captain on their fortress in a do or die game for Australia.

Rohit has to beat his drums because he has been such a loser as captain.

All famous test wins came under Kohli and Rahane. All ICC trophies came under MSD. So this guy feels left out. Same with perennial loser Dravid.

 

[Vikram1989]

What's the word on Pant. Last I heard he was looking good for the ENG series?

He will play Ipl .He will be ready by Feb ,but Bcci wants to give him few more months of time.

 

[MP2011]

Rohit has to beat his drums because he has been such a loser as captain.

All famous test wins came under Kohli and Rahane. All ICC trophies came under MSD. So this guy feels left out. Same with perennial loser Dravid.

Only trophies Rohit has won as captain are the numerous seasons of IPL which counts for nothing.

No wonder he is equating this win with our Gabba win which had such a fair pitch unlike this abomination of a pitch.

Perhaps, he erroneously thinks that Cape Town was as much of a fortress for SA as Gabba was for Aussies.

 

[Champ_Pal]

I hope India learned some lessons from this tour.

Prasidh and Mukesh are not international Test quality. Mukesh is marginally better than Prasidh.

India needs to find a replacement for Shami soon. Bumrah and Siraj cannot do it by themselves. The 3rd seamer cannot be a passenger in SENA countries.

 

[Romali_rotti]

I hope India learned some lessons from this tour.

Prasidh and Mukesh are not international Test quality. Mukesh is marginally better than Prasidh.

India needs to find a replacement for Shami soon. Bumrah and Siraj cannot do it by themselves. The 3rd seamer cannot be a passenger in SENA countries.

I wouldn't write of Prasidh just yet. It's 2 test matches. He was horrible but there is potential there, the bounce and pace he gets is encouraging

 

[Champ_Pal]

I wouldn't write of Prasidh just yet. It's 2 test matches. He was horrible but there is potential there, the bounce and pace he gets is encouraging

He has not showed anything to influence me. Not even one decent over where he looked like he had batsmen guessing. Just bowls short and hopes for the best. Very predictable. At this level, bowlers need to have an outswinger or inswinger or something as stock ball. A humble prayer to Lord Hanuman cannot be the stock ball.

Even in IPL he was mediocre. Just bowls short and gets hammered. He needs to develop some skills. Height alone cannot be the only weapon in his arsenal.

 

[BouncerGuy]

India won the match but that pitch was horrible. Had SA scored 50 more runs, things could been different. But credit goes to India for that win.

 

[BouncerGuy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1742881233208762683

 

[MP2011]

He has not showed anything to influence me. Not even one decent over where he looked like he had batsmen guessing. Just bowls short and hopes for the best. Very predictable. At this level, bowlers need to have an outswinger or inswinger or something as stock ball. A humble prayer to Lord Hanuman cannot be the stock ball.

Even in IPL he was mediocre. Just bowls short and gets hammered. He needs to develop some skills. Height alone cannot be the only weapon in his arsenal.

And this horror show was on pitches which were aiding fast bowling so much!

 

[CrIc_Mystique]

Just enjoyed the roller coaster ride on this test match, two days of high emotions from indian cricket fans....who were baying at various stages for 80 percent of indian team to be kicked out, coach, support stafff, baggage h andler et all to be kicked out etc...end of the day...we won a tricky test match to sock it up them saf highveldt heroes and did it it some style to draw series, give credit where its due....Yes i do totally get we need to get young guys in to replace shami, vk, ash, jads, ishant, che pu, jinx and we have no succession plan inplace -blame it on the gadzillion guzzling BCCI fat cat cement head who will forget everything and 2 months from now will be all gung ho with our useless over hyped media over the useless IPL which is 1.5 months, 35 matches and 3 teams too long. We really need to get several youngsters in ....else in 2 years, we will be the easy beats of test odi and the cricket that really matters.

 

[FearlessRoar]

SA v IND Takeaways: A pulsating series that lasted less than five days

India couldn’t conquer the ‘Final Frontier’ but walked away with a drawn series in the country after 13 years and also went atop the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 table.

The ultimate challenge in Test cricket could be concluded as conquering the different conditions around the globe.

India, the No.1 ranked Test side in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Team rankings, came to South Africa with a Test series victory in the Rainbow Nation eluding them for more than three decades.

In 2010, India managed to square the series – the only time prior to this they have managed to return from South Africa by avoiding a Test series loss – after an epic victory in Durban followed by a drawn Test after they had lost the first match of the series.

13 years later, the visitors came from a hammering by an innings and 32 runs to spectacularly bowl the hosts out for 55 and eventually level the series.

The shortest Test match

The quick bowlers took a wicket every 30 balls on average in the series, which is the third lowest ever recorded in a men’s Test series in the 21st century.

It’s as good a sign as any of how difficult batting was in the entire series and barring South Africa’s 408 in Centurion, neither team managed more than 250 in any of the other innings in the series.

As the two-match series concludes, with less than five days of cricket overall, we list down a few takeaways.

If Centurion was hard, Cape Town proved to be harder – 23 wickets fell on day one where a debutant (Tristan Stubbs) and a player playing his last Test match (Dean Elgar) were both dismissed twice to end their respective contributions with the bat in the match.

In fact, it took only 107 overs in all for the Test match to yield a result, making the second Test in Cape Town, which finished inside five sessions, the shortest (in terms of overs) in Test history.

South Africa get Bedingham, Burger boost

South Africa might have had to settle for a drawn series, but in David Bedingham and Nandre Burger they have added two exceptional talents that should serve their Test team for long.

“The main aim is always to do well in Test cricket or first-class cricket," Bedingham declared after pulling his name out of the SA20 draft. On his Test debut, the 29-year-old looked at home in international cricket, countering India’s menacing pace attack with ease.

Burger, on the other hand, is a left-arm quick, one South Africa have yearned for long and seems more than ready for the international stage. He ends his debut Test series with 11 wickets, only behind Jasprit Bumrah’s 12.

Bumrah, Siraj and India's pace attack

In a Test where India’s character was bound to be tested, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah stood tall to deliver knockout punches in either innings for India.

Despite the support pacers, barring Mukesh Kumar, not quite stepping up, Siraj and Bumrah were in a league of their own, especially at Newlands.

Siraj ripped through the South African batting line-up in nine unbroken overs, taking a six-wicket haul to bundle the hosts out for their lowest Test score since readmission. It was a statement and a half and one that India needed early in the Test to salvage the series.

When the victory was in doubt late on Day 1, with South Africa having bowled India out before the lead had ballooned substantially, Bumrah came roaring on Day 2, snaring a wicket in the first over of the day to push South Africa onto the back-foot.

He would finish with six wickets to keep South Africa’s lead in check despite Aiden Markram’s extraordinary counterattack.

Rabada pushing to be the greatest strike bowler ever

Kagiso Rabada enhanced his reputation further with 11 wickets in the two Tests, including seven in the first Test.

His ability to take wickets could just put him in the top bracket of Test bowlers to grace the game. In 62 Test matches, the South African pacer has 291 scalps at an average of 22.05 and a strike-rate under 40.

Among bowlers to take 100 Test wickets, only two have a bowling strike-rate under 40, and only one of them has played since the 1900s - Rabada.

It speaks volumes about the strike force the lanky fast bowler is. In home Tests, his strike-rate goes down to 33.1 and the average too drops under 20, making him a formidable force the opponent batting line-ups have to overcome to beat South Africa in their backyard.

India couldn’t quite manage to do so in Centurion and ended up conceding the Test by an innings.

Markram stepping up right as Elgar steps down

Aiden Markram had scores of 5 and 2 as he walked out to bat with a Test match to save. Despite his burgeoning reputation as a limited-overs giant, Markram hasn’t quite nailed his Test career thus far.

The average is in the 30s after 37 Tests and his form has been far from consistent. Watching his opening partner Elgar walk back one final time in Test cricket, Markram decided it was his time to take over.

If South Africa were worried about their stability at the top of the order with Elgar retiring, Markram put that to rest in an innings that could define his Test career.

The opener counterpunched and found the middle of the bat in a Test match where the others had struggled. His breathtaking 106 came off just 103 balls and gave South Africa a miniscule of a chance in a Test where their first innings had ended within a session.

This could be the innings that turns Markram’s Test career in the upward direction. Coming on a surface where 33 wickets fell in 107 overs, this was a treasured knock that would give South Africa much relief as they bid goodbye to one of their best Test openers.

Source: ICC

 

[sweep_shot]

India have 3 home series coming up

5 test series vs Eng starting in couple of week's time
2 test series vs Ban in Sep-Oct
3 test series vs NZ in Oct-Nov

then the big one
5 test series in Aus in Nov('24)-Jan('25)

That will conclude the league phase of our WTC 2023-25

WTC final should be between Australia and India/South Africa. Probably India.

 

[MP2011]

For all the talk about Australia being number 1 in tests, well they suck in unfamiliar environs. They are great at home and in NZ, goodish in England and SA. That's about it. If not for rain, they'd have lost Ashes too.

Yeah, they are a gun team which won the WTC but one off test doesn't count for much especially if it's played at a place where they are already strong.

They have to do well in subcontinent.

 

[RexRex]

A bit of a fluke victory if we're being honest. This is what happens when you roll out extreme pitches.

Pune 2017 comes to mind.

 

[jnaveen1980]

For all the talk about Australia being number 1 in tests, well they suck in unfamiliar environs. They are great at home and in NZ, goodish in England and SA. That's about it. If not for rain, they'd have lost Ashes too.

Yeah, they are a gun team which won the WTC but one off test doesn't count for much especially if it's played at a place where they are already strong.

They have to do well in subcontinent.

As long as India plays WTC final in England right after each IPL season they are going to be undercooked. Both times the other finalists were well prepared. Smith even played county cricket before WTC final. But Indians went straight after IPL. They have to schedule the final at different time not after IPL.

 

[MP2011]

South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad Thursday termed the Newlands surface on which the shortest Test match in the history of the game was played as "not great" and where sheer luck trumped pure skill. India beat South Africa by seven wickets in a match that was played for just 106.2 overs and ended in a day and a little over one session. "I don't know what people want me to say. You only need to look at the scores. 1.5-day Test match! You need to look at how they chased 80 (79). Sad state when you need more luck than skill. All the ethics and values of Test cricket goes out the window," Conrad, a former Western Province cricketer, lashed out after the series ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

South Africa Coach's Bold "More Luck Than Skill" Remark As India Win 2nd Test In 1.5 Days | Cricket News

South Africa coach Shukri Conrad sympathised with chief curator of Newlands, Braam Mong, who, according to the Proteas head coach, might just have "over-prepared" the surface.

sports.ndtv.com

 

[MP2011]

This is hilarious. Luck was with SA all the way, they were playing on pitches on which they are borne and brought up.

Also, they won both the tosses and still couldn't win against this ageing Indian team which had so many passengers.

So basically, they couldn't win even 1 series out of 3 played on this tour. That was luck too I guess

 

[Smbhayi]

KL has performed brilliantky so far in middle order.

Looks like Samson fans are out in full force today.

You unnecessarily drag Samson here, not me.. Rahul got multiple chances to prove his worth and yet there's a bit of pressure he'll get out (You yourself admit Rahul is a mental midget).. others didn't that many chances even after performing well (not only Samson)..

 

[Ab Fan]

You unnecessarily drag Samson here, not me.. Rahul got multiple chances to prove his worth and yet there's a bit of pressure he'll get out (You yourself admit Rahul is a mental midget).. others didn't that many chances even after performing well (not only Samson)..

Rahul just hit a test hundred as wicket keeper batsman in first test when everyone around failed. What are you arguing about here?

His record in test was mediocre as opener but it was also skewed due to playing lot of matches in overseas conditions. He has test hundreds in South Africa and England and has started taking up keeping duties. There is no reason to drop him. He is not at level of Kohli, peak Pujara, peak Rohit, Pant but still good enough to merit a place in Indian side.

The youngsters, Gill and Jaiswal failed in this series. Gill has been failing from quite some time himself at the top order. Look at Iyer, he was good in subcontinent but outside Asia, he has been a sitting duck.

Samson could have been given a chance in ODIs or T20Is but they probably backed SKY in ODIs thinking Samson has this knack of throwing away his wickets vs half decent attacks in Umar Akmal esque style. Didn't came off but in Test cricket, Samson is nowhere even in consideration. He doesn't have FC stats even to boost about.

 

[Champ_Pal]

Rahul just hit a test hundred as wicket keeper batsman in first test when everyone around failed. What are you arguing about here?

His record in test was mediocre as opener but it was also skewed due to playing lot of matches in overseas conditions. He has test hundreds in South Africa and England and has started taking up keeping duties. There is no reason to drop him. He is not at level of Kohli, peak Pujara, peak Rohit, Pant but still good enough to merit a place in Indian side.

The youngsters, Gill and Jaiswal failed in this series. Gill has been failing from quite some time himself at the top order. Look at Iyer, he was good in subcontinent but outside Asia, he has been a sitting duck.

Samson could have been given a chance in ODIs or T20Is but they probably backed SKY in ODIs thinking Samson has this knack of throwing away his wickets vs half decent attacks in Umar Akmal esque style. Didn't came off but in Test cricket, Samson is nowhere even in consideration. He doesn't have FC stats even to boost about.

Samson fans are funny. They talk as though he was robbed off his chances. He clearly got many chances against weaker oppositions before and he failed miserably every time to cement his place in the side. Not a knock worth of remembering. There is a reason why he is out of the side for the most part. He is indeed Umar Akmal of India. Sure Samson is talented. But there are many who as as talented or slightly less talented than Samson who used their chances to shine. I don't even remember a single IPL knock from Samson where I was wowed. He just comes in and plays 15-20 balls, hits a boundary or a six and then gets out. Just your typical run off the mill batsman in IPL.

Samson has only himself to blame. There are 3 keeper batsmen ahead of him in the pecking order. Rahul, Pant and Kishan are better than him. Even Jitesh has also thrown in his cap for consideration.

The only way Samson can get in the side is with this batting alone. But he has proven that he does not merit a place in the side as a pure batsman. He will get his chances more this year and next year.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Samson fans are funny. They talk as though he was robbed off his chances. He clearly got many chances against weaker oppositions before and he failed miserably every time to cement his place in the side. Not a knock worth of remembering. There is a reason why he is out of the side for the most part. He is indeed Umar Akmal of India. Sure Samson is talented. But there are many who as as talented or slightly less talented than Samson who used their chances to shine. I don't even remember a single IPL knock from Samson where I was wowed. He just comes in and plays 15-20 balls, hits a boundary or a six and then gets out. Just your typical run off the mill batsman in IPL.

Samson has only himself to blame. There are 3 keeper batsmen ahead of him in the pecking order. Rahul, Pant and Kishan are better than him. Even Jitesh has also thrown in his cap for consideration.

The only way Samson can get in the side is with this batting alone. But he has proven that he does not merit a place in the side as a pure batsman. He will get his chances more this year and next year.

I have made fun of Samson fans too when they mocked Pant. But i don't make fun of Samson himself. Problem with Indian selection is not backing the players for right formats. There is no way SKY deserved a chance ahead of Samson in the ODIs. SKY undeservingly played a Test match as well.