IMAGE: Jasprit Bumrah cemented his place as one of the most successful Test bowlers for India in overseas conditions. Photograph: Esa Alexander/Reuters
Not only wickets, but records tumbled as India clinched a seven-wicket win over South Africa.
The Men in Blue kickstarted 2024 with a chaotic but memorable victory over hosts South Africa. In a see-saw contest, the visitors bounced back from their opening Test thrashing to level the series in South Africa.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj dazzled with six-wicket hauls to guide India to a series levelling-win.
A look at records set and broken during India's historic victory:
- This was India's first win at Newlands. They have played at the venue six times.
- 642: Shortest completed Test ever! The previous shortest Test lasted 656 balls. That contest was played between Australia and South Africa in Melbourne in 1932.
- This was India's first Test win while batting second in South Africa.
- Jasprit Bumrah has eight five-wicket hauls from 28 Tests outside Asia. While Kapil Dev tops the list of most five-wicket hauls by Indians outside Asia, Bumrah is placed second alongside Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Anil Kumble and Ishant Sharma.
- Three of Bumrah's five-fors have come in South Africa. Bumrah joins Javagal Srinath as the Indian bowler with most five-wicket hauls in South Africa.
- In the first innings, Mohammed Siraj turned in career-best figures of 6/15 to bowl out South Africa.
- Aiden Markram, who struck a 103-ball 106, became the first batter to score a ton when not a single other team-mate scored 20 runs in any innings in a Test match. Dean Elgar registered the second highest score after Markram, scoring 12!
- Four men's Test matches hosted in Newlands have finished in two days.
- On an action-packed opening day, 23 whopping wickets fell! This is the second-highest number of wickets to fall on an opening day of a Test. Twenty five wickets fell in an Australia-England Test in 1902.
- South Africa was bowled out for a paltry 55 in the morning session after opting to bat. This was their lowest Test total since 1932.
- But the action wasn't over for the day. India suffered their worst collapse as they were bowled out for 153. Going steady at 153/4, India lost six wickets in the next 11 deliveries without scoring a single run.
- This is only the second time India have won a Test where none of their batters have gotten a fifty-plus score. Virat Kohli registered the highest score, scoring 46 in the first innings. The last time India won a match with no batter scoring fifty plus was in 2015, where Murali Vijay's 40 was the highest. India had defeated South Africa in that contest by 124 runs in Nagpur.