Previously known for their penchant to choke in big tournaments, SA registered their first major triumph in June when they beat Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

The Proteas landed in India to prove that their WTC glory was no fluke and Temba Bavuma’s men jumped to the second spot in WTC standings, leapfrogging India and Sri Lanka, after their 30-run victory in the low-scoring contest at Eden Gardens.

It was SA’s first test win in India since 2010, and Bavuma led by example.
On a tricky track where the ball spun sharply and bounced irregularly, Bavuma struck the only fifty of the match by any batter and deftly marshalled his bowlers, who skittled out India for 93.

A back-pedalling Bavuma followed a swirling ball and took a smart catch to remove Axar Patel, which effectively sealed their victory in front of 40 000-odd fans at Eden Gardens. Off-spinner Simon Harmer’s haul of eight wickets earned him the player-of-the-match award, but Bavuma’s heroic unbeaten 55 dragged his team back into the contest.

Bavuma did not disagree when asked if he felt SA beat India in their own game on a pitch like that.

“Yeah, probably true,” he told reporters after SA went 1-0 up in the two-test series.
“We’ve come here knowing that the wickets are going to be spinner-friendly, similar to what we got in this game. So it didn’t come as a surprise.”
Despite having so little to defend, Bavuma said he never stopped trusting his bowlers.

“It’s not every day you go and score 125, and you feel that’s a winning score.
“But we had to believe. We knew it was tough. We saw with our own innings, with the bat.”

India were one batsman short as skipper Shubman Gill retired hurt in the first innings and did not bat in the second.

–Reuters–