The South African reply began on a shaky note. Aiden Markram fell early. Dean Elgar and Tony di Zorzi were getting beaten outside the off stump repeatedly against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. They were making the ball move, talk and do all sorts of things.
With two more fast bowlers to unleash, India looked good to pile pressure on the home team, on a responsive pitch, under a fair amount of cloud cover. That’s when the match turned. Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur released the pressure, went for plenty and, from a cornered position, South Africa started scoring at more than four runs per over.
Dean Elgar’s brilliant century in reply to KL Rahul’s 101, takes South Africa to a lead of 11 runs at the end of Day 2.
South Africa 256/5 with Elgar and Jansen at the crease. @CricSubhayan reviews Day 2 from the ground.@ThumsUpOfficial #SAvsIND #SAvIND #BoxingDayTest pic.twitter.com/YFwst7gIQB
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) December 27, 2023
This passage of play where Elgar played the uncharacteristic role of the aggressor might well remain the defining moment of the first Test. One more wicket and India could have had a go at the relatively inexperienced middle order, where Temba Bavuma was absent injured. The ball was still swinging, there was enough carry. Instead, South Africa took control of proceedings in a matter of just a few overs.
Looking back, those spells by Prasidh and Shardul proved costly. Prasidh, the debutant, is known to be a strike bowler. He is in Indian team because he did that job for Karnataka and India A. At Centurion, the tall fast bowler had a bad day in office. He was inconsistent with direction in general, conceding fours on both sides of the wicket. His length was too short, when conditions demanded that the batters be made to play on the front foot outside off.
Also Read: ‘May be a century? Watch out for it.’ Dean of Test openers, Elgar fares well in Centurion adieu
Being the fourth pacer, Shardul’s job was to at least put the brakes on scoring, if he was unable to take wickets. But he was neither here nor there. He rarely threatened the edge and went for plenty. The Mumbai man extracted nothing from the pitch, which was helpful for fast bowlers, and was also guilty of bowling on both sides. One can understand lack of penetration, not the inability to slow down the scoring rate.
After being traumatised by Siraj and Bumrah, Elgar and Di Zorzi shared a second-wicket stand of 93 in less than 25 overs. After Bumrah got two crucial breakthroughs to bring India back, the fourth-wicket partnership of Elgar and David Bedingham added 131 in just under 30 overs. A very high percentage of these runs came from boundaries.
Almost every over saw one or two hits to the fence, especially when Prasidh and Shardul operated. The captain had men in catching positions, only to see his fielders run towards the boundary line and fetch the ball. It did not look like his bowlers were following a plan. Shardul ended up conceding almost five per over. Prasidh was going at the same rate before pulling things back a bit towards the end.
The fate of a Test match can sometimes be determined in a session or two. It can’t be said that the post-lunch and post-tea periods will prove decisive in this match, but they definitely helped South Africa gain the upper hand, which means India will have to chase the game now. In favourable conditions for fast bowling, with four pacers and two of them going great guns, that was sloppy work collectively.
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