Short, sweet and record-breaking. The second South Africa vs India Test served a delicious start to 2024, with Rohit Sharma’s boys claiming bragging rights within two days. JUST TWO DAYS. 

The shortest ever completed Test (107 overs) would also go down in the record books as the marquee match where India became the first Asian team to triumph in a Test match at Newlands.

We are still stunned and trying to process this. But as much as we can, here are the highlights of one of the most enigmatic matches in the gentleman’s game.

Executioner Siraj and the Proteas landslide

The pitch at Newlands was an absolute menace to deal with for batters, and a rampant Mohammed Siraj would be the first beneficiary of it on Day 1. The pacer went on a shopping spree and claimed six wickets for 15 runs inside his nine overs. Jasprit Bumrah (2/25) and Mukesh Kumar (2/0) would complete the riot as hosts South Africa were skittled out for just 55.

Steady start and the rumbling in 11 balls

With confidence from their showing with the ball, India were tipped to build on the advantage in their favour. They did, but then came the drama.

Pace trio Lungi Ngidi (3/30), Kagiso Rabada (3/38) and Nandre Burger (3/42) ripped into the Indian batting order and got them all out for 153. While Virat Kohli (46), Rohit Sharma (39) and Shubman Gill (36) were the driving force behind India’s journey to the fighting total, they had to stare at how the visitors fell down the staircase from a score of ​​153/4 to 153/10 inside overs 34 and 35.

The BOOM BOOM - Cape Town romance continues!

Same ground, same opponent, same tenacity and the same hunger for wickets. Six years on from his Test debut at Newlands, Cape Town, Jasprit Bumrah ensured he still is the sheriff in town.

BOOM BOOM went on a rampage against the middle-order, and with one ball left in his 14th over, the talismanic pacer would register a match-defining six-wicket haul (6/61). His effort helped India bowl out South Africa for 176, a score made possible through Aiden Markram’s 106, thereby giving the Proteas a fleeting chance.

By the numbers, Bumrah's bowling spell had a tryst with some records. Firstly, this was his eighth five-plus wicket haul in 28 Tests outside Asia (one short of Kapil Dev’s record of nine in 45 Tests). Secondly, Jassi's 6/61 was his third Test fifer in South Africa - joint-most for an Indian bowler alongside Javagal Srinath.

Target of 79 and the moment of reckoning

Post lunch on Day 2, India were just 79 runs away from making history. South Africa managed to draw two wickets into their pocket, but Captain Fantastic Rohit Sharma stayed on to guide his troops to the target. What that meant was that India won their first Test match at Newlands in seven attempts and drew the SA vs IND Test series 1-1.

Brief scores: India 153 (Virat Kohli 46, Rohit Sharma 39; Lungi Ngidi 3/30) and 80 for 3 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 28; Marco Jansen 1/15) BEAT South Africa 55 (Kyle Verreynne 15, Mohammed Siraj 6/15) and 176 (Aiden Markram 106, Jasprit Bumrah 6/61) by seven wickets.