South Africa made light work of the India at home, clean-sweeping them 2-0 in their first test series win in India for 25 years. Here’s how each of their players fared in the two-match series.
Aiden Markram - 7
2 matches, 102 runs at 25.50, HS: 38 | 1 wicket at 33, BBI: 1-5 | Ct: 12
Aiden Markram’s best in the series came in the outfield, as he took 12 catches across two Tests, including nine in Guwahati – a world record for the most catches taken by a non-wicketkeeper in a Test match. He got starts with the bat in three innings, but couldn’t convert them into anything substantial.
Ryan Rickelton - 6
2 matches, 104 runs at 26, HS: 35
Like his opening partner, Rickelton too got starts but wasn’t able to convert them, with a high score of 35. But the duo did ensure that the Proteas top-order remained solid.
Wiaan Mulder - 5
2 matches, 83 runs at 27.66, HS: 35*
Mulder batted at three in both innings of the first game, and was then dropped to No.6 for the Guwahati game, where he got his highest score of the series as the India bowlers went through the motions in the second innings.
Temba Bavuma - 8
2 matches, 102 runs at 34, HS: 55*, 1 fifty
Captain, leader, legend. Bavuma maintained his unbeaten record as captain in Tests, having now gone 12 matches without a defeat. He was the only batter to score a fifty in the Kolkata Test, and it was his innings that made the difference in a close finish.
Tony de Zorzi - 6
2 matches, 103 runs at 25.75, HS: 49
De Zorzi fell just one short of a half-century in the second innings of the Guwahati Test. The top-order batter didn't have much else of note to show for in a commanding series victory for his side.
Tristan Stubbs - 7
2 matches, 163 runs at 54.33, HS: 94, 1 fifty
Stubbs was the only unbeaten South Africa batter in the first innings of the Kolkata Test, and barring a failure in the second innings, where everyone except Bavuma struggled, he had a strong showing. He fell one short of a fifty in the first innings of the Guwahati Test and six short of a 100, while trying to go big, in the second.
Kyle Verreynne - 6
2 matches, 70 runs at 23.33, HS: 45 | Ct: 8, St: 1
Verreynne’s most notable contribution was a 97-run partnership with Senuran Muthusamy in the Guwahati Test, which enabled the visitors to post a strong total of 489. He picked up eight catches and effected a stumping from behind the wicket.
2nd Test, India vs South Africa
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Marco Jansen - 8
2 matches, 110 runs at 35.33, HS: 93, 1 fifty | 12 wickets at 10.08, BBI: 6-48, 5WI: 1
Player of the match in the Guwahati Test, Marco Jansen yet again flexed his all-round muscles. He was the fourth-highest run-getter and the second-highest wicket-taker of the series. If not for Simon Harmer’s wizardry, he would be the player of the series.
Corbin Bosch - 7
1 match, 28 runs at 14, HS: 25 | 1 wicket at 46, BBI: 1-32
Bosch played just the first match, but his 25-run knock in the second innings of the Kolkata Test helped his side take the game away from India.
Simon Harmer - 9
2 matches, 17 wickets at 8.94, BBI: 6-37, 5WI: 1
The star of the series, Simon Harmer ran through the India batting unit in the Kolkata Test, picking up eight wickets in the match. He then bagged a six-for to bowl India out for 140 in the second innings of the Guwahati Test and took the player of the series award home.
Keshav Maharaj - 7
2 matches, 6 wickets at 29.83, BBI: 2-37
An able partner to Harmer, Maharaj wasn’t too effective against an India line-up dominated by left-hand batters. But on the flip side, he managed to hold his own against a series of southpaws.
Senuran Muthusamy - 8
1 match, 109 runs at 109, HS: 109, 1 hundred | 1 wicket at 23, BBI: 1-21
Coming in for the Guwahati Test, Muthusamy slammed his maiden Test hundred, and the only ton of the series. He also dismissed Sai Sudharsan in the second innings of the Guwahati Test to quash any Indian hopes of salvaging a draw.
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