India vs South Africa: Day 1 is India’s after Bumrah’s blitz at Eden
Kolkata: It had been a while since Jasprit Bumrah left his imprint on a match with his influential show. With “workload management” being the buzz word around the pacer since his return from a back surgery early this year, the 31-year-old has been employed sparingly and while his impact even more sparse.
But then you can’t keep a good player down for too long, and Bumrah chose the Eden Gardens’ stage, perhaps the most iconic in India, to send a gentle reminder about his class with a fifer.
The Gujarat pacer’s 16th five-wicket haul (5/27) in his 51st Test took wind out of South African sails as India seized early initiative on the opening day of the first Test here on Friday.
Opener Aiden Markram (31) was the top-scorer as the visitors folded up for an inadequate 159 in 55 overs with Mohammed Siraj (2/47) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/36) playing their part.
The fading light brought an early end to the day’s proceedings with India reaching 37 for the loss of Yashasvi Jaiswal.
KL Rahul (13) and Washington Sundar (6) were keeping vigil at stumps.
Winning a toss in India in a Test match can be massive, often tilting the match towards the team calling it right. With the prospect of pitches deteriorating rapidly, batting first when conditions are the best, becomes crucial to a team’s fortunes.
Bavuma got it right when his Indian counterpart Shubman Gill flicked the coin, chose to bat as expected and his openers appeared to back his decision.
For about 50 minutes in the morning, South Africa were in absolute control of the proceedings here on the well-attended opening day. Markram and Ryan Rickelton (23) looked comfortable against both Bumrah and Siraj. While they did not take chances against Bumrah, the duo took a great liking to Siraj, smashing 25 runs in his first three overs and forcing an early change.
Axar Patel, the first of the four spinners India brought in on the day, was carted for three fours and a six in his three overs as Gill looked to Ravindra Jadeja. It wasn’t long before the Proteas brought up their team fifty scoring five runs an over as India desperately searched for a breakthrough. Gill’s instinct and Bumrah’s class combined to deliver just that. India have been pressing Bumrah in short bursts as part of his workload management but on the day, Gill gave him an extended spell.
The right-arm quick, coming round the wicket against Rickelton, rearranged the stumps with an angled-in delivery when the left-hander closed the face of the bat. Markram, who was dealing in boundaries, received an unplayable one from Bumrah with the ball rearing sharply from a slightly short length, compelling the batter to feel it while the edge landed safely in gloves of a diving Rishabh Pant.
Two quick wickets and India smelt blood. Kuldeep soon made it three, scalping Bavuma through a leg-side trap. Wiaan Mulder and Toni de Zorzi saw off the first session without further damage but there was little doubt as to which side the game had tilted.
The middle session moved rapidly as the Indian bowlers’ guile and the vagaries of the pitch combined to spell doom for South Africa. From 105/3 at lunch to 154 for eight at tea, the reigning world Test champions completely lost the plot.
Mulder fell to Kuldeep in an attempt to reverse sweep a tossed up delivery, de Zorzi became Bumrah’s third victim, caught in front to a sharp incoming ball while Siraj had Kyle Verreynne lbw for his first scalp. Incredibly, all three batters reviewed their on-field decisions and found all of them were plumb in front.
With all three reviews for the innings wasted, Keshav Maharaj bore the brunt as he couldn’t reverse the on-field LBW verdict against him though the replays revealed Bumrah’s ball was going down the leg. Bumrah wasn’t complaining, India weren’t and the 36,000-plus crowd lapped up each moment.
The pitch had something for the bowlers with variable bounce and perceptible turn keeping the spinners interested while pacers relished movement off the seam and some reverse swing later. Still it wasn’t as bad as South African batters made it out to be. With the pitch expected to get more difficult, India will look to bat their rivals out of the game.
SCORE BOARD
SOUTH AFRICA (I Innings):
Markram c Pant b Bumrah 31
(52m, 48b, 5×4, 1×6)
Rickelton b Bumrah 23
(46m, 22b, 4×4)
Mulder lbw Kuldeep 24
(84m, 51b, 3×4)
Bavuma c Jurel b Kuldeep 3
(21m, 11b)
de Zorzi lbw Bumrah 24
(72m, 55b, 1×4, 1×6)
Stubbs (not out) 15
(120m, 74b, 1×4)
Verreynne lbw Siraj
(53m, 36b, 2×4)
Jansen b Siraj 0
(4m, 3b)
Bosch lbw Axar 3
(29m, 23b)
Harmer b Bumrah 5
(10m, 5b, 1×4)
Maharaj lbw Bumrah 0
(2m, 3b)
Extras (B-8, LB-4, NB-1, W-2) 15
Total (all out, 55 overs) 159
Fall of wickets: 1-57 (Rickleton), 2-62 (Markram), 3-71 (Bavuma), 4-114 (Mulder), 5-120 (de Zorzi), 6-146 (Verreynne), 7-147 (Jansen), 8-154 (Bosch), 9-159 (Harmer).
Bowling: Bumrah 14-5-27-5(w-1, nb-1), Siraj 12-0-472-2 (w-1), Axar 6-2-21-1, Kuldeep 14-1-36-2, Jadeja 8-2-13-0, Washington 1-0-3-0.
INDIA (I Innings):
Jaiswal b Jansen 12
(27b, 35m, 3×4)
Rahul (batting) 13
(59b, 2×4)
Washington (batting) 6
(38b)
Extras (LB-2, NB-4) 6
Total (for 1 wkt, 20 overs) 37
Fall of wicket: 1-18 (Jaiswal).
Bowling: Jansen 6-2-11-1 (nb-2), Mulder 5-1-15-0 (nb-2), Maharaj 5-1-8-0, Bosch 3-2-1-0, Harmer 1-1-0-0.
