Bumrah and Siraj lead India to a dramatic recovery victory in the “shortest Test.”

The second day of the final Test in Cape Town o January 4 witnessed India’s comprehensive seven-wicket victory over South Africa, with six-wicket hauls from Jasprit Bumrah (6/61) and Mohammed Siraj (6/15). Having been completed in five sessions, the outcome ranks as the shortest completed match in the annals of the Test.

Given South Africa’s 23-wicket first-day total, it became apparent that a remarkable performance would be necessary to ensure the game continued into the third day. Although Aiden Markram appeared eager to accept the challenge, he received no assistance from the opposing side. Bumrah was in a particularly menacing form as he capitalized on the fiery Cape Town surface, which had also increased in speed since the initial day. Consequently, the precipitous bounce, firm length deliveries became more difficult to play. Nevertheless, as demonstrated by Markram, runs were also attainable for batsmen who dared to venture out.

During the initial thirty minutes of the second day, both David Bedingham and Kyle Verreynne were dismissed, and Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj also failed to endure for long. During this entire time, Markram was progressively developing his rhythm at the opposite end. The opener was compelled to transition to white-ball mode at 111/7, which was not an easy task on this pitch but he accomplished it with ease. Even Bumrah encountered opposition from the soundtrack as India’s pacers received criticism, with Prasidh Krishna in particular continuing to experience a baptism by fire upon his initiation into Test cricket.

Markram ultimately succumbed to an excessive number of shots, but not before finishing off an outstanding century. In a contest where no team scored in excess of 200 and only other batters surpassed 30, Markram’s innings was flawless in numerous respects. However, Bumrah was no exception; following his supporting act performance on the first day, he ignited the crowd with an explosive spell of fast bowling. South Africa had eked out a 78-run advantage on the back of Markram’s efforts, but despite the extremely difficult surface conditions, that lead was simply insufficient for the bowlers to contend with. In order to dismiss the total in 12 overs, India’s batsmen adopted an aggressive approach, led by Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 28 off 23 balls at the top, which extinguished any remaining optimism that South Africa might have had.

The outcome was already predetermined by the time the wickets of Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli followed the dismissal of the left-hander. Rohit Sharma remained at one end while Shreyas Iyer endured several vicious short deliveries prior to scoring the game-winning runs against Jansen.