South Africa vs India, 2nd Test: Cape Town Comeback! India Bowl South Africa Out for 55 to Bounce Back in Style

South Africa vs India, 2nd Test: Cape Town Comeback! India Bowl South Africa Out for 55 to Bounce Back in Style

SA vs IND, 2nd Test: On Wednesday, January 3, South Africa scored the fewest Test points it has ever had against India. In Cape Town, Mohammed Siraj knocked the South Africans out for 55 runs, tearing down their batting order.

It was a day of redemption, of defiance, of roaring back under the azure skies of Cape Town. After the humbling defeat in Centurion, India turned the tide with a vengeance in the 2nd Test, skittling South Africa out for a paltry 55 in a breathtaking display of fast bowling mastery. The collapse, the second-lowest score ever recorded in Test cricket against India, swung the pendulum of the series decisively in the visitors’ favor.

It is preferable for Team India if we talk about the Boxing Day Test in Centurion as little as possible. It was a fiasco in every way. Significant losses in international Test matches are not unusual, but even their most ardent supporters were alarmed by the Indian team’s three-day capitulation. Except for KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, the batsmen appeared completely lost in front of the shifting ball and its inconsistent bounce. There are serious concerns regarding the future of India’s once-famous pace attack given the bowlers’ absence of Bumrah. Rohit Sharma’s India arrived at Newlands in Cape Town for the New Year’s Test following an innings-and-32-run defeat.

They haven’t won a test at this location. If the early pitch reports are accurate, this is a venue that should provide more bounce and pace. More importantly, this is a location that, dare we say, will reveal a lot about India’s red-ball cricketing future.

For the second Test, India made a few difficult decisions. India’s batsmen scored fewer runs than South Africa’s first innings in the first Test, batting just over 100 overs in two innings in Centurion. However, the batting order will probably remain the same because there aren’t any truly intriguing backups available.

Ravindra Jadeja, an experienced all-rounder, has rejoined the Test team in the current ICC World Test Championship (WTC). In the series finale, seasoned all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has been replaced by Jadeja. Pacer Mukesh Kumar has taken the place of all-rounder Shardul Thakur. In the Cape Town final, senior hitter Dean Elgar—playing his farewell Test for the Rainbow nation—won the toss and chose to bat first for hosts South Africa.

After winning the toss, South Africa decided to bat

Elgar leaves the field as captain of his last Test, with Bavuma absent. From Elgar’s miscued pull on the very first ball of the innings, the Proteas looked a pale shadow of their Centurion selves. The ghosts of their fragile batting order, laid bare in Centurion, came back to haunt them under the unforgiving Newlands sun.

Mohammed Siraj’s Scorching Spell Sinks South Africa

On Wednesday, January 3, Mohammed Siraj destroyed the South African batting lineup in the first innings at the Newlands Stadium. In the first innings of the second and final Test match of the series, Mohammed Siraj bowled South Africa out for just 55 runs with figures of 9-3-15-6.

Following their humiliating loss in the first Test, India mounted a formidable comeback in the second Test match. South Africa scored their lowest-ever Test total against India thanks to India’s outstanding ball-handling performance; they were knocked out for just 55 runs in 23.1 overs. In Nagpur in 2019, Hashim Amla’s squad set the previous record for the lowest total against India when they were bowled out for just 79 runs.

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On the day, South Africa’s record for the lowest first-innings total stood. The Protea country was bowled out for just 36 runs against Australia back in 1932.

The Indian pacers on the day displayed incredible skill, taking all ten wickets in the opening session. Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets in addition to Siraj’s six wickets, and Mukesh Kumar’s stats were 2.2-2-0-2.