Centurion: Lungisani Ngidi’s Test debut couldn’t have been better as he took six wickets to help South Africa win the second Test match by 135 runs at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday.
With figures of 6/39, Ngidi also became the 17th bowler in Test cricket to claim a five-wicket haul on the fourth innings of a match on debut after Doug Bracewell’s feat against Zimbabwe in 2011. South Africa, through this victory also gained an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series which means that it is a first series loss for India under Virat Kohli, as a full-time captain.
Having ended the fourth day on 35/3, India were staring down the barrel and it was more or less inevitable that they would lose, after Kohli fell for five runs early on. But the pace at which the match got over was indeed a surprise to many. The Indian team management as well as the fans looked up to Cheteshwar Pujara to bail them out of trouble and take them closer to the target of 287 runs but the Saurashtra batsman needlessly threw his wicket away after he attempted a third run and fell short of his crease for the second time in the match. In the process, he also bagged an undesirable record as he became the first Indian batsman to have been run out on the both the innings of a Test match.
Hardik Pandya, who took had threw away his wicket in the first innings once again did the same as he attempted to reach out to a delivery outside the off-stump and courtesy a sensational catch behind the stumps by Quinton De Kock, the all-rounder fell for just six, leaving India in all sorts of trouble at 83/6. Ravichandran Ashwin was the next to follow the way to the dressing room as Faf Du Plessis and his men could already sense that they’ve slayed the number one Test team.
If it was Vernon Philander who had wreaked havoc with the Indian batting in the first test, Ngidi took up that role with both hands and it was fitting that he took the last wicket to wrap up the Indian innings for just 151 and halt their winning run of nine consecutive Test series wins.
Rohit Sharma, however played well this time around and scored 47 runs, the highest in the Indian innings but couldn’t stop them from surrendering the match as well as the series. Mohammad Shami provided some late fireworks with a 24-ball 28.
Brief scores–
India 308 all out and 151 all out (Rohit Sharma 47, Mohammad Shami 28; Lungisani Ngidi 6/39) lost to South Africa 335 all out and 258 all out by 135 runs.