Overview:
Simon Harmer (4 wickets), Aiden Markram (2 wickets), Keshav Maharaj (2 wickets) and Marco Jansen (2 wickets) were the top performers with the ball.
South Africa defeated India by 30 runs in the first Test match of the two-match series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Chasing 124 runs, the hosts were dismissed for 93 runs on Day 3 of the contest. Rishabh Pant, who was leading the side in the absence of injured Shubman Gill, opened up on the team’s defeat.
Simon Harmer (4 wickets), Aiden Markram (2 wickets), Keshav Maharaj (2 wickets) and Marco Jansen (2 wickets) were the top performers with the ball.
Washington Sundar (29), Rishabh Pant (27), and Ravindra Jadeja (27) got the starts, but the trio couldn’t win the Test for the national team. Simon was named the Player of the Match for taking eight wickets.
The Proteas amassed 159 & 153 while India managed 189 & 93. Temba Bavuma was the only batter who scored a fifty in the Kolkata Test.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill faced just three balls before picking up an injury in the first innings and didn’t bat in the second. It cost India big time as Gill has been the most in-form batter in recent times.
“You can’t dwell on it too much. We should have chased down the total. The pressure kept building on us, and we didn’t capitalise enough. Temba and Bosch had a good partnership in the morning. That partnership between the two hurt us,” he said.
“There was help for the spinners from the wicket. A score of 120 can be tricky on these pitches. But having said that, we should be able to soak in the pressure and capitalise. The match just got over, and we haven’t thought about the improvements, but we will come back strong for sure,” he added.
Bavuma (55*) and Bosch (25) added 44 runs for the eighth wicket.