“I am not a stats man, I am a win man,” Simon Harmer said when asked by Murali Kartik in the post-match presentation about his returns: Simon Harmer’s 8 for 51 is the best by a South Africa spinner in a Test in India and second only to Dale Steyn’s 10 for 108 back in 2010. On a pitch snarling with turn, bounce and menace, South African off-spinner Simon Harmer delivered a spell that not only dragged his side back into the Eden Gardens Test but also helped the Proteas to win their first Test in India after 15 years.
Simon Harmer’s 4 for 30 in India’s first innings — including the decisive strikes of Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel and Ravindra Jadeja — was the spell that jolted India’s control. More than the numbers, it was the precision of his craft that stood out: 4.3 degrees of average turn, the most by any bowler in the match, even more than India’s celebrated spinners.
At a point in the contest where South Africa desperately needed incision without Kagiso Rabada, it was Simon Harmer who stepped up. The match was suddenly alive, balanced on the skills of a bowler whose career has been anything but straightforward. 36-year-old Simon Harmer continued his superb form in the second innings when his team was defending just 124 runs. He took another four-fier to seal a famous victory for South Africa.
A fighting unbeaten half-century from skipper Temba Bavuma and a second four-fer in the match from Simon Harmer saw South Africa beat India in the opening Test in Kolkata. Despite being on the backfoot by stumps on the second day, the world champions came up with a spirited performance on the third day to secure a 30-run win and take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : “It’s 21 degrees and it gets to a maximum of, what, 27 today, so it is very good cricketing conditions to play weather-wise. This pitch looks like it’s holding together pretty okay. Generally, they do a little bit of watering the day before the game, sometimes even in the morning of the game, but this pitch, they haven’t watered yesterday at all, which basically means if you look at the center of the pitch, there is a lot of dry patches here.
So, as this game progresses, there will be a little bit of turn, but not today. Today, what we will see is a bit of reverse swing, and you’ve got some real good fast bowlers. Both teams have class, you’ve got Rabada and Bumrah, both those guys, it doesn’t really matter about the conditions. Temba Bavuma might be a little bit scared. The last time he captained on this ground, he won the toss, he said, let’s bat first and Australia knocked him out in the World Cup semi-final.
We’ve got enough grass cover. it seems hard, so I think there might be movement on day one, but as this game goes on, the surface will change. We feel that it’s best to win the toss and then bat first, but most importantly, the fast bowlers will have something in it initially, and a bit of reverse swing as well.” reckons Dinesh Karthik and Shaun Pollock in their pitch report.
Toss : SA skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and chose to bat with 2 spinners in the Playing XI. Indian skipper Shubman Gill bowling first has 4 spin bowlers to surprise many in the Playing XI.
Day 1 : Jasprit Bumrah’s blitz sees India dominate Day 1 at Eden Gardens
Four spinners. That’s how many India went in with for this Kolkata Test, their first such selection since 2012. And yet, it was Jasprit Bumrah doing on the pitch what Jasprit Bumrah does on most pitches around the world. On a dry, cracked Eden Gardens surface with just enough grass to hold it together, Jasprit Bumrah made South Africa fall apart with sensational figures of 5 for 27, which helped bowl the visitors out for 159 on a record-breaking 11-wicket opening day at the Eden Gardens.
The day didn’t start that way for the hosts though. It all seemed to be going South Africa’s way when Temba Bavuma called correctly and his openers put up 57 runs in quick time. It didn’t help India’s case that Mohammed Siraj looked totally off-colour with the new ball, conceding 25 in his three overs before being taken off. But at the other end, Bumrah looked in a world of his own, getting the ball to misbehave vertically and horizontally, beating edges, hitting cracks and barely letting a batter find the middle.
In a long seven-over opening spell, it might have taken him 33 balls to strike but they were totally worth the wait. Left-handed Ryan Rickelton got a peach from around the wicket, the ball straightening off the seam to clip the top of off. Few balls later, Bumrah got the ball to bounce awkwardly into right-handed Markram, leaving the batter no option but to fend it behind to a flying Rishabh Pant.
Following Pant’s cue there, India took their close-in catches. Dhruv Jurel, coming into the side for Nitish Reddy, did exactly that at forward short leg when Temba Bavuma turned a Kuldeep Yadav legbreak towards him. Another catch of Kyle Verreynne later in the innings didn’t stick but so good were the Indian bowlers that they kept producing wicket-taking deliveries at the Eden Gardens.
One crucial moment of unforced error from South Africa was when Wiaan Mulder went for the reverse sweep and found himself trapped leg-before by Kuldeep. The wicket reduced them to 114/4 from a comfortable 57/0 at one point.
Bumrah returned after lunch and picked up right where he’d left off. Bowling from round the wicket, he breached Tony de Zorzi’s defence with one that straightened just enough and stayed low, a reminder of how difficult the pitch was. But the real shift in momentum came when Siraj, this time operating from Bumrah’s end, found rhythm. He went stump to stump, tailing the ball in, getting Kyle Verreynne lbw and Marco Jansen bowled, both in the same over.
Axar Patel, into the side for side for Sai Sudharsan and having proved expensive in his first spell, found his rhythm too, turning one sharply and then skidding one on to remove Corbin Bosch at the stroke of Tea. By now, South Africa looked rattled and had lost all their reviews. India’s attack had found the right length, targeting the stumps and trusting the pitch to do the rest.
Bumrah kicked off the evening session with a couple of wickets in an over that not only bowled South Africa out in 55 overs but also delivered the fast bowler to his 16th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Simon Harmer was bowled by one that decked in sharply and Keshav Maharaj was trapped in front by a searing yorker. Tristan Stubbs looked stoic and determined during his 74-ball vigil but ran out of partners in the end.
India’s start with the bat was uncertain. The pitch had settled a touch and the variable bounce from the first two sessions had eased, but there was still swing on offer. And South Africa’s new-ball pair, Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder (Kagiso Rabada missing out because of a rib injury) found movement and lift, and kept India honest.
In the seventh over, Yashasvi Jaiswal chopped one onto his stumps off Jansen to give South Africa an early breakthrough. And once his natural risk-taking was gone, India slipped into a shell. KL Rahul played and missed but held on, while Washington Sundar, India’s newest experiment at No. 3 and pushed up to accommodate Axar Patel lower down, tried to find some rhythm in difficult conditions at a sub-16 strike-rate.
The good news for the hosts was that India didn’t lose more wickets even as Keshav Maharaj found sharp turn and Jansen, Mulder and Corbin Bosch hit impeccable lengths. The run rate crawled at 1.85 but survival, for the moment, mattered more than speed. Fading light meant only 75 overs were bowled before Stumps were drawn but India will walk out on Day 2 looking to break free, with an even more packed Eden Gardens behind them on a weekend.
Day 2 : Spinners give India command on fast-moving day after a slender 30 runs lead over SA in the 1st innings
On a day when he officially ended his long-standing association with Chennai Super Kings, Ravindra Jadeja starred with the ball on a fast-moving day to put India in command of the opening Test against South Africa in Kolkata.
On a surface where the spinners ran riot, India folded for 189 in their first innings, fetching a slender lead of just 30 runs. However, India’s left-arm spin trio of Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel ran through the South African lineup to keep their lead to just 63 by stumps on the second day.
India kickstarted the day on a watchful note with bounce being the key factor to negotiate on this surface. Both Washington Sundar and KL Rahul were solid in their approach and slowly brought the deficit down.
Having settled down, Washington even lofted Keshav Maharaj over long on for a six as the visitors desperately searched for a breakthrough. After the drinks break, the wicket finally arrived as Simon Harmer bowled a beauty to take Washington’s outside edge. India were then dealt a blow when Shubman Gill walked back retired hurt in the same over after hurting his neck.
Even though Rahul broke the shackles in the very next over with a six and Rishabh Pant followed suit with one over the ropes two overs later, South Africa grew in confidence with the pitch playing tricks.
Eventually, they turned the tide when Maharaj ended Rahul’s vigil. Pant was sent back to the pavilion immediately after he raced to 27 and Simon Harmer stopped Dhruv Jurel’s charge post lunch. The left-arm spinner continued to make incisions as India dragged themselves past South Africa’s first innings score. With Gill eventually not coming out to bat, India had to settle for a meagre lead of 30.
However, by the time South Africa knocked those runs off, they already lost their openers. Kuldeep trapped Ryan Rickelton lbw on the stroke of Tea and once play resumed in the final session, it was the Ravindra Jadeja show.
After getting rid of Aiden Markram, Jadeja dealt the visitors a double blow by dismissing Wiaan Mulder and Tony de Zorzi in the same over to leave South Africa reeling at 40/4. Bavuma tried to keep the scorecard moving with a few boundaries but post the drinks break, Jadeja bowled a ripper to breach Tristan Stubb’s defence and hit the top of offstump.
With Bavuma being the key at this point, South Africa were let down by Kyle Verreynne’s shot selection as he attempted a wild slog against Axar, only to lose his stumps. After managing to overturn an lbw decision first ball, Marco Jansen hammered a six off Axar to extend South Africa’s lead past 50 but Kuldeep eventually rounded off the day with the bowling allrounder’s wicket to leave Bavuma stranding.
Despite the pitch playing tricks, South Africa would still need a massive effort from their skipper and the lower order to post a fighting total against the home side on the third day.
Day 3 : Temba Bavuma, Simon Harmer star in South Africa’s historic Eden Gardens win
A fighting unbeaten half-century from skipper Temba Bavuma and a second four-fer in the match from Simon Harmer saw South Africa beat India in the opening Test in Kolkata. Despite being on the backfoot by stumps on the second day, the world champions came up with a spirited performance on the third day to secure a 30-run win and take a 1-0 lead in the series.
India began the day in ascendance but not with bowlers likeliest to take a wicket. Axar Patel opening the day was a surprise, and as the singles flowed with ease you could sense panic. Rishabh Pant, who had been excellent with his rotation of bowlers and field placements on the second evening, began to change bowlers too quickly and also took a desperate review against Bavuma when Ravindra Jadeja had clearly pitched outside leg from over the wicket.
Resuming at 93/7, South Africa pinned their hopes on Bavuma to drag their lead to at least a three-figure score which looked like a herculean task given the nature of the surface. But with Corbin Bosch for company, Bavuma managed to keep South Africa afloat. The first boundary of the day came from Bosch who swept Ravindra Jadeja firmly. India did review for a decision against Bavuma in Jadeja’s following over but to no avail. Bosch then welcomed Kuldeep Yadav into the attack with another boundary as South Africa continued to add valuable runs.
Bosch then connected a slog sweep to smash Kuldeep over the ropes that took the lead past 100 to slowly drift the pressure back on India. However, Jasprit Bumrah ended the frustrating stand with a nip-backer that didn’t bounce much to crash into the stumps. Bavuma then became the first batter to score a half-century in the Test match before Mohammed Siraj wrapped up the South African resistance with the final two wickets in the same over that left the opposition skipper stranded at the non-striker’s end.
A target of 124 on the Eden Gardens surface was always going to be tricky for India without Shubman Gill, who was earlier in the day officially ruled out of the Test match. And to make matters worse, the hosts lost Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first over of the run chase as the opener edged one to the ‘keeper.
While the spinners were expected to wreak havoc, it was Jansen who stunned India again in his next over with a snorter that got rid of KL Rahul, the only Indian batter who faced over 100 deliveries in the first innings. At 1/2, India sent Dhruv Jurel to steady the ship alongside Washington Sundar. While Jurel did take just two balls to open his account with a boundary, Washington looked firm at the other end with a massive task in hand post the lunch break.
Jurel appeared to grow in confidence when he hit Bosch for a couple of boundaries in the same over and Washington followed suit with another boundary against the same bowler. But once Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj started to bowl in tandem, India had their task cut out.
Jurel though was left frustrated as his shot selection let him down rather than the surface as he pulled a rank long hop straight to the deep mid wicket fielder. When Rishabh Pant chipped one in tame fashion back to Simon Harmer, India found themselves in deep trouble at 38/4, effectively 38/5 with Gill being unavailable.
Jadeja then hit a couple of boundaries to break the rut and Washington was defiant at the other end. Washington’s resistance did give India hope given no one had faced more deliveries than him at one point but Simon Harmer was at it again, this time with the key wicket of Jadeja to put India on the backfoot further.
The final nail in the coffin when Aiden Markram managed to find Washington’s outside edge. At that point, India still needed 52 runs with only Axar Patel left to bat with the tail. Axar did throw his bat against Maharaj for a couple of sixes and a four after Kuldeep’s dismissal but one more attempt at clearing the ropes saw him mistime one and head back to the pavilion. Maharaj then needed just one more delivery to complete South Africa’s stunning turnaround.