Iyer seals victory for India and hugs his captain Rohit! Pumps it over mid-on and celebrates. Full and on the stumps, Iyer is in position for this, hitting it over the top
South Africa vs India, 2nd Test at Cape Town,SA v IND, Jan 03 2024 - Match Result
2.07pm Elgar shares the trophy with Rohit and ends his career. That's all we have for you from India's tour of SA. The final frontier continues to be unbreachable for India, but they will still return home with their first Test win in Cape Town. Hope you enjoyed our coverage as much as we did bringing it to you. Until next time, this is Deivarayan Muthu signing off on the behalf of Shashank Kishore, Hemant Brar, P Ranjith and MV Raghav. Goodbye and take care.
1.40pm This is the shortest Test ever. It lasted just 642 balls, with India winning inside two days and levelling the series 1-1. This is also India's first Test victory in Cape Town. Let's not forget Markram's great century, though, on this tough track.
Dean Elgar walks into the sunset. It's the end of an era in SA cricket, as Firdose puts it. He is being appreciated by India's players and his own team-mates. SA coach Conrad also hugs Elgar. Kohli hands Elgar a signed jersey and sends him off. Do stick around for the post-match presentation.
Elgar: Tough one for us. We were positive coming into the game, but the first innings with the bat...India bowled well and used the conditions to a T. In a day, it's a draw, but 2-nil would've been nice. Yeah, it was a bit of a ripper. In a naked eye, it looked a nice one, but it played different to what everyone thought it would play. Big learning curve for playing here. Still don't regret my decision to bat first but they outskilled us in the first session.
Siraj, Player of the Match: To be honest, it's my best figures in my Test career. I didn't think too much and just wanted to hit the right areas. Got the learnings from last game that I didn't hit the right lengths and I wanted to be relentless with my length here. When we play together with Bumrah, we analyse the wicket quicker and understand the plans. Keep supporting, keep loving.
Elgar and Bumrah share the Player-of-the-Series award.
Elgar: I would have liked to do more in this game. Still very proud of my performance in Centurion and finally on the board in the hundred club there. But pretty difficult batting conditions... It would've been brilliant. You want to challenge yourself against the best in the world. Bumrah is a world-class bowler and he deserves the Man of the Series. Glad I don't have to face these guys again (laughs). Bit of a journey and amazing memories with the baggy green, so special...
Bumrah: As I said before, this ground will hold a special place in my heart. Fond memories of my first game and happy it went well for me. The journey started in 2018 and we wanted to create an impact in all conditions. In India, the spinners do a lot more work. The team is now going through a transition but the message is the same. It's difficult to keep coming at it; we were happy we were able to do it in this game. I didn't expect this was going to happen (shortest Test) but a great series.
Rohit: Obviously a great feat, but having said that we have to learn from whatever mistakes we made. The bowlers still have to put the ball in the right areas and the boys got rewarded for it. We applied ourselves well and batted to get the 100-run lead, but not pleasing to see the last six wickets [fall for no runs]. Siraj's spell is something you don't get to see often. We kept it simple and the pitch did the rest for us. You still have to come and do it. Credit to Siraj and Bumrah and to Mukesh and Prasidh to support him in whatever way they did. When you come to this part of the world, it's always difficult but we take pride in our performance outside of India. South Africa always challenge us and for us to come out here and win, we can take pride in this performance. Such an important player for South Africa (on Elgar). Very, very gritty and his wicket - we spoke about how we want to get him out quickly. We appreciate what he has done for South Africa. Brilliant career - best wishes ahead!
As this Test match ends, it's only the beginning of a year with many questions for Indian sports fans. Here are the answers to some of the most anticipated of those questions, ft. Neeraj Chopra.
Trevor B: "CSA have really stuffed themselves by producing that sort of wicket in Cape Town. They complain about the lack of Test cricket yet provide wickets that only sustain a game for 2 days. Any cricket lover would want to see India in SA but fans have been deprived of at least two days of good test cricket. "
Shubham: "Cricket fans will miss a compact test opener like Dean Elgar."
eralefty: "SIR Jadeja Scored 0 runs and bowled 0 balls and still on the winning side.
Venkat: "This test is a true reflection of where SA is as a batting unit in test cricket. Their batting quality is currently sub-par for Test standards and with Elgar retiring only Bavuma and Markram have some established credentials in the line up and it is going to take some smart selections for them to be strong in the future. "
Farhan: "Positives for India: Jaiswal's potential to be a test regular, excellent slip catcher too, Mukesh being a reliable bowler in suitable condition. Negatives: Poor lower order, Prasidh as a bowler and Shreyas as a test batter in SENA."
Hemanth: "Hope Markram is picked as MoM."
Aditya: "2 consecutive SENA tours where India haven't lost a series! Way to go team!
Mustafa Moudi: "I know Bumrah is the top contender to win the Player of the Match award with his 8 wickets in the Test but I would prefer Markram to win the award with his century on a track where no other player could manage even a half-century !!"
Iyer hangs back, backs away, expecting the short ball once again. But this is very full at off stump, squirted away to extra-cover. Hang on, Jansen has overstepped
Dharmik: "Rohit saying to Iyer, "Khatam karde" meaning finishing it off"."
another sharp lifter from Jansen. Iyer hops and splices it in the air but fortunately for him the ball drops into no-man's land
lifter angling across off, gets too big on Iyer as he hooks and misses
full and pushed across off, Iyer defensively drops the ball to cover
nip-backer from Jansen, curves in against the angle, Iyer falls over on the flick and ekes out an inside edge onto the pad
Iyer joins Rohit
shortish and nipping down the leg side, has Kohli been strangled down the leg side? Not given out on the field. Elgar and SA review. UltraEdge detects that this has rolled behind to the keeper off the glove. Yes, Kohli has been caught down the leg side, with India four runs away from victory
Kohli shimmies out and finds a quick single to midwicket
smeared away to the midwicket boundary. Kohli dashes out of the crease, and dispatches Rabada over the leg side
Kohli steps out and swats at this short ball but can't connect
Arjun: "After 6 for 0 anything seems possible on this track. I really don't think anyone 10 years down the lane will understand the emotions and tension for this 79 run chase."
Rohit skies it...and de Zorzi drops it! Banged in short and outside off, Rohit loads up to play his favourite shot - the pull - but top-edges it hiiiiiigh into the sky. De Zorzi, moves back, from gully and grasses it
Kishore : "Yes, 6 for 0 is really haunting "
on a length and angling into off, Rohit blocks solidly to short cover
Hari: "The anxiety and the tension in the comments is quite palpable..."
on a length and angling into off stump, clipped away through square leg for a single
pumped over mid-off for four more! Pitched-up delivery outside off, Rohit plants his front foot and hits over the top
Rocky Chand: "Hope these two make it to victory without any further collapse."
fullish and swerving away outside off, Rohit hides the bat inside the line and allows himself to be beaten in the channel
Kohli skews a drive to deep square off the inner half
Vishal S.: "Not taking a bathroom break till the scorecard crosses the 79 run mark. C'mon India, get there, quick"
short and down the leg side, Kohli directs it away fine past the left of the keeper for four
Jansen draws a leading edge from Kohli but it does not carry back to him. Jansen dives across to his left in his followthrough, but the ball does not stick
bumper down the leg side, too short and that's a wide
Brian: "I'm afraid to go to the washroom in case I miss a collapse."
on a length and nipping away outside off, left alone
Jansen replaces Burger. He will operate from over the wicket
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Newlands, Cape Town | |
Toss | South Africa, elected to bat first |
Series | |
Season | 2023/24 |
Player Of The Match | |
Player Of The Series | |
Series result | 2-match series drawn 1-1 |
Match number | Test no. 2522 |
Hours of play (local time) | 10.00 start, Lunch 12.00-12.40, Tea 14.40-15.00, Close 17.00 |
Match days | 3,4 January 2024 - day (5-day match) |
Test debut | |
Umpires | Ahsan RazaDRS |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee | |
Points | India 12, South Africa 0 |