Siraj spell for the ages...
...blows South Africa away for 55. But a dramatic Indian collapse – 6 wickets in 11 balls for no run – gives hosts a reprieve
KolkataThe first sign of a well-laid trap came in the form of an immaculately pitched, driveable yet not-so-driveable delivery that culminated in a screamer of a catch by Yashasvi Jaiswal at second slip.
Dean Elgar chopping on to the stumps was a dismissal two innings in the making, but better late than never.
Foxing Tony de Zorzi into a strangle down the leg wasn’t exactly classic Mohammed Siraj but definitely harks back to the debut tour of Australia where he exploited the leg-side so well.
In all, what took the breath away though was that hypnotic line outside off-stump, dismantling South Africa’s confidence one wicket at a time. Cape Town never looked sunnier in the aftermath of Siraj’s 9-3-15-6, which could be the most impactful, if not the finest, opening spell by an Indian fast bowler in Test cricket.
South Africa were dismissed for 55 at the stroke of lunch on Day 1, but the home fast bowlers and mindless batting by the Indian lower-half resulted six wickets being lost in the space of 11 balls without conceding a run -- a world record that reduced India to 155 and opened the Test match wide open.
The Proteas were 62/3, trailing India by 36 runs, at stumps. The 23 wickets that fell on Wednesday were the most in a day’s play in South Africa ever, along with the 2011 Test between South Africa and Australia, also in Cape Town.
But let not the day’s dramatic events take away from Siraj’s spell.
It may be a coincidence that Newlands is where India’s pace reinvention started in 2018 with Jasprit Bumrah’s Test debut. By the end of that tour, Johannesburg was annexed. A year later, Australia. Soon, England, nearly. Sure, India’s batters carved some riveting innings, but not half of those wins would have been possible without the fast bowling riches. Which is why Siraj’s haul was so timely, because the pace attack was slowly getting typecast as a one-man show.
Siraj isn’t an automatic pick if all fast bowlers are available. And that tells you something about the evolution of Indian fast bowling. It was not for nothing that the bulk of the attention in the past year and more was consumed by the talk over Bumrah’s fitness. But if demolishing Sri Lanka with 6/21 in the Asia Cup final was a timely reminder of Siraj’s white-ball credentials, Wednesday’s haul can be firmly put alongside some of the great bowling spells in modern cricket.
Not in recent years has any fast bowler bowled better than Siraj did in the first innings of an away Test.
Though there have been some spells that come to mind – Anderson’s 6/40 on a Galle pitch in 2021, Mohammad Asif’s 6/41 at Sydney in 2010, and Ishant Sharma twice during the 2014 tour of New Zealand, his effort automatically qualifies as special.
For one, no fast bowler has conceded as few as Siraj, or probably bowled as long in one spell. Add to that the tempting length, curled into the batter with a wispy action, followed by just a hint of outswing, and he became nigh unplayable. So, Aiden Markram copped one, as did Marco Jansen.
But the one that slices further into the right-hander made for an even more interesting caveat. Imagine trying to go on to the front foot with a straight bat, eyes peeled on the ball, aiming to play as late as possible to cover the swing; only for the ball to keep coming in after pitching, at 135kph plus. Kyle Verreynne got a taste of what it feels like.
On the face of it, South Africa’s implosion could be interpreted as one of those bad days every side is bound to endure irrespective of their consolidated batting potential. That conclusion seemed more relatable as the day progressed with Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada lopping off India’s innings with six wickets in two overs.
A more just view, however, should project Siraj’s spell as the epitome of new-ball seam bowling — relentless, all rhythm, on point, and so naggingly tormenting that it drew South Africa into unforced errors that set off a spectacular chain of events.