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A quick flashback The Test match finished quickly as
South Africa defeated India by an innings and 32 runs in just three days. They
had a great time doing it, too.
Nandre Burger smiled, as did his teammates. He had
discovered so much movement that first misstep ended up with the ball. India
had been looking for assistance like that for 108.4 overs.
Wiaan Mulder made a headlong dive into the grass. He
believed that he had let Virat Kohli go. Actually, though, as the batter
attempted to play a flick shot, the ball moved so quickly that it beat the
leading edge and rebounded off his thigh towards first slip.
In just 34.1 overs, India’s batting innings produced
nine single-digit scores on Thursday. That sort of showed how bad they’d
bowled, allowing only one man to score more than their total from the second
innings.
How then did it occur? Why was the gap so great? Once
again, there was always support available and the pitch’s constant intensity
contributed significantly, as did the fast bowlers’ profiles of the two teams.
The good-length ball was the one causing the greatest
issues in the beginning. It had moved to the back of good length now, where
cracks and divots were beginning to emerge, after two days of wear and tear and
some wonderful morning sunshine. There, the ball’s landing caused a varied
bounce.
An attack from South Africa was more fitted to take
advantage of it. greater points of release. Better tempo. And a lot of sleep,
which is possibly most crucial. When it came their turn to bowl in the evening,
Dean Elgar’s 185 and Marco Jansen’s 84 not out had made sure they were very
fresh, and they did not let us down.
With a match total of 7 for 91, Kagiso Rabada was
incredible; at least three of those wickets came from unplayable deliveries.
One of them was the catalyst for the fall of India.
Meanwhile, Burger continued to strike his unsettling
back-of-good-length ball with consistency, earning four wickets, two of which
came from hitters attempting in vain to leave the ball because it was bouncing
all over the place. When India was bowling, there were moments when it appeared
as though the surface had settled, but it was mostly because they were
unfamiliar with the area, fatigued, and had played too many overs. Five months
had passed since their last Test match. It made sense that they wouldn’t be
able to acclimatise as well as their hosts did.
Temba Bavuma’s hamstring wouldn’t let him come out and
give Jansen the support he needed to reach his 100. It was perhaps the only
thing that disappointed the home crowd over the course of the last three days.
They’ve been spoiled.