Mohammed Siraj unleashed | SA collapse to a 96-year-low
At Newlands in Cape Town, Mohammed Siraj claimed his third five-wicket haul in Test cricket as India easily defeated South Africa’s top order.
A few were directed towards Dean Elgar’s ribcage. In his final Test match, the stand-in captain for South Africa survived despite one ball being tossed into the air and landing painfully close to the short leg and short mid fielders. In the second Test at Newlands, Cape Town, India was prepared and had a plan. Did they, or did they not? Following Mohammed Siraj’s targeting of Elgar’s weak point—he has been out four times in his last three Test matches—Jasprit Bumrah delivered a toe-crushing yorker that almost completely removed the left-hander from the record.
Perhaps the most telling sign that the Indian pacers were back was the sardonic smile on his face. And that their demise followed no pattern. There was competition on both edges. Everything was going to be top to bottom. For the previous five years, hitters all over the world have been tortured by this tempo attack. All they had done in Centurion was take a rest.
Siraj was going through the second South African opener, Aiden Markram, when all of this was going on at Elgar’s end. He began by pitching a few pitches that were fairly long. The bounce was the obvious component. Markram’s go-to shot in any format—getting on top of it and driving it through the covers—was rendered impossible. Siraj recognized this. He pitched one somewhat fuller but with the same form towards the slips after softening him up. Fearful of the bounce, Markram did not take a deep step and gave a firm shove. The ball took a swing and gained the upper hand. At second slip, Yashasvi Jaiswal made an incredible low catch while diving to his left.
Early indications suggested that South Africa had their hands full if they chose to bat.
Bumrah bowled two more yorkers in the next over, one to Elgar and the other to new man Tony de Zorzy, both from the opposite end. On the other hand, Siraj was pursuing a completely different strategy. Elgar, an accomplished left-hander who amassed a massive 185 in the Boxing Day Test, had nowhere to go since he was so accurate to him. Subsequently, the sucker ball emerged beyond the off stump. For a man marooned in a desert, it was an oasis.
Elgar jabbed at it with firm hands and, without moving his feet, managed to get an inside edge back onto his stumps. When Siraj won his second, the Indians rejoiced. Both of the South African openers were back in the hut by eight.
While Siraj and Bumrah weren’t particularly evil in Centurion, they were deadly in Newlands. They changed two things that stood out: they were relentless and had a strategy for each South African batter. There was absolutely nothing (so read it twice) loose.
For Tristan Stubbs, making his debut, the strain was too much. With firm hands, he pushed at one, getting an inside edge, and Rohit Sharma made a straightforward catch at short leg to put Bumrah on the scoreboard.
The Zorzi was caught by Elgar’s leg-side trap in the subsequent over. Siraj possessed three. It was unquestionably his strongest Test cricket tenure to date. 15/4 was South Africa’s score.
Only 11 runs were scored by South Africa’s top four batters, which is the second-lowest total in their history and the lowest since 1927, when they scored 12 runs.
In the ninth over, Bumrah attempted to get the leg before but strayed down the leg side, resulting in four byes, which was the first boundary of the innings. It was so difficult to score runs.
Following an enticing opening sequence, Rohit removed Bumrah from the attack, but Siraj persisted on his end. When Kyle Verryenne was given out lbw for four, but the keeper-batter chose to use DRS, the call was reversed, and he almost scored his fourth.
However, putting Siraj at bay would not work for very long. He got one to bite awkwardly from a length to Bedingham in his eighth over, allowing Bedingham to glove it to the slip cordon. For 34, South Africa lost half of their team.
Siraj gave Marco Jansen two in-dippers to begin with, and the next delivery saw him bowled with a leg-cutter. For the all-rounder, it was too wonderful. He was just able to give the keeper a nick. In Test cricket, it was his third five-wicket haul.
After achieving 5/9 in 8 overs, Rohit offered Siraj one more over, and the Hyderabadi man did not let him down. This time, he got another wicket—Verreynne.
Had Rohit gotten his wish, he might never have stopped Siraj from attacking. However, ten overs would have meant taking a chance on an injury, and nine overs at a time was simply too much. With numbers of 6/15 at the end of his first stint, South Africa was off to one of their poorest starts in home Test matches. These were also his last numbers in the opening session, as India dismissed the Proteas for a meager 55 runs. Jasprit Bumrah and Mukesh Kumar both claimed two wickets during the innings without giving up a run.
