The final frontier will remain the final frontier for some more time, but India’s cricketers will head back home, their heads held high.
They expectedly wrapped up the second Test with plenty of time to spare on Thursday to square the two-Test series 1-1. Aiden Markram scored a stunning hundred (106, 103b, 17x4, 2x6) on an incredibly challenging track where nobody else touched 50, but that could only delay the inevitable.
India’s seven-wicket victory came in the second session on the second day. It was the team’s first-ever Test victory at the Newlands Cricket Ground.
It also proved the shortest Test win in history. India won in 642 balls, beating the 1932 record of 656 balls in Melbourne (South Africa was at the receiving end then, too).
This Test match has, of course, been as much a delight for statisticians as it has been a nightmare for batters. But for one man, this was an occasion to show his exceptional talent.
Markram was brilliant. He probably played the innings of his life.
But the visitors needed only 79 to win. The South Africans had resumed at 62 for three, trailing by 36. They would have been hopeful of setting a reasonable target, but Jasprit Bumrah would not let them do it.
The Indian spearhead may have played a supporting role in the first innings, but he wasn’t going to let this historical Test finish without making a significant contribution on his own. He broke through in the very first over of the day, getting rid of David Bedingham, whose attempt to drive ended in the gloves of K.L. Rahul behind the stumps.
After having Kyle Verreynne caught by his new-ball partner Mohammed Siraj at mid-on, he brought off a fine catch off his own bowling to send Marco Jansen back. Bumrah, whose length and angles proved too much for the South African batters, finished with six for 61.
All this while, it had looked as if Markram was batting on a wicket different from all the others, maybe with the exception of the Indian master Virat Kohli, who stood tall among India’s ruins on the opening day.
And Kohli knows how skilful, focused and determined a batter has to be to succeed on a wicket like this, against a quality attack. So when Markram got to his hundred, Kohli congratulated him.
Markram would have appreciated that. And the goodly crowd that turned up, probably in hope of a miracle, was treated to some exquisite batting by the elegant opener.
Markram played some great shots, most of them along the ground, with perfect timing. He also cleared the ground on a couple of occasions in glorious fashion.
Those two sixes came in Prasidh Krsihna’s first over of the innings.
The first one was pulled majestically over square-leg, and the second was lofted over the bowler’s head.
India finished the chase in a hurry, in just 12 overs, with Shreyas Iyers scoring the winning shot off Jansen over mid-on.
