Mohammed Siraj: With Mohammed Siraj bowling the most lethal spell among Indian fast bowlers on South African soil, the host team was reduced to 55 runs at lunch on the opening day of the second Test here. Siraj (Mohammed Siraj Five Wicket Haul vs SA) gave the best performance of his career by taking six wickets for 15 runs in his first spell of nine overs. The South African batsmen failed to deal with the uneven bounce and movement obtained from their pitch. On a humid morning on Wednesday, South Africa’s batsmen found it difficult to cope with Siraj’s pace, swing and seam movement, due to which the entire team reached the pavilion in just 23.2 overs in the first innings.
Siraj did this feat
Before Siraj (Mohammed Siraj Record vs SA), such a brilliant performance in the country’s 92-year Test history is in the name of left-arm spinner Maninder Singh, who achieved the feat of taking five wickets before lunch against Pakistan in Bengaluru in 1986-87. was achieved. Only two African batsmen, David Bedingham (12 runs) and Kyle Verreyne (15 runs) could reach double figures, leaving the South African spectators present in the stands disappointed. Siraj took six wickets for 15 runs with three maidens in nine overs.
Jasprit Bumrah (Jasprit Bumrah vs SA in 2nd Test) (2 wickets for 25 runs in eight overs) also maintained the pressure from the other end. Mukesh Kumar (Mukesh Kumar vs SA) took two wickets without giving any runs and proved that he is much better than Shardul Thakur in these conditions. After the innings defeat in Centurion, even Indian supporters would not have expected such a brilliant performance from the bowlers.
Siraj continued to bowl full length bowling of four to six meters and the bounce from the pitch helped in this. At the other end, Bumrah hit it on the back length and Indian captain Rohit Sharma also provided full support to the bowlers by doing excellent fielding. When Siraj started bowling, the player was present at leg slip while Rohit himself stood at short leg for Bumrah.
Aidan Markram was out after giving a brilliant catch to Yashasvi Jaiswal while trying to play the ball flying in the air. South African captain Dean Elgar soon got bowled while trying to play a shot on Siraj’s full length ball. Bumrah then got young Tristan Stubbs caught out by the captain at short leg. Tony DiGeorge’s habit of hitting the ball high took a toll on him and he was caught out by the wicketkeeper.
David Bedingham was tempted to drive and the extra bounce ended his innings. Marco Jansen touched Siraj’s ball with the bat, giving the Indian bowler his fifth wicket and till then no one knew that this would be the most embarrassing morning for South Africa since its return to international cricket in 1991.