Jasprit Bumrah picked a fifer in Cape Town, where he made his Test debut, on Wednesday. The 28-year-old finished with first innings figures of 42/5 in his 23.3 overs as South Africa were bundled for 210 runs and trail the visitors by 13 runs.
Bumrah’s seventh Test five-wicket haul makes him the joint-most Indian seamer after 27 Tests along side Kapil Dev and Irfan Pathan
Five-wicket hauls for India in Cape Town
7/120 Harbhajan 2010/11
5/114 S Sreesanth 2010/11
5/42 J Bumrah 2021/22 *
Bumrah started the day by striking early in the first session of Day 2. The pacer bowled opener Aiden Markram with a stunning delivery and then also picked the key wicket of Keegan Petersen. He then dismissed Marco Jansen at the stroke of tea before putting an end to the South African innings with Lungi Ngidi’s wicket.
Mohammad Shami (2/39), Shardul Thakur (1/37) and Umesh Yadav (2/64) also played their part in restricting the hosts to an under-par total.
“Cape Town, January 2018 – is where it all began for me in Test cricket. Four years on, I’ve grown as a player and a person and to return to this ground brings back special memories,” Bumrah had said at the beginning of the Cape Town Test.
He now has two Test five-wicket hauls in South Africa, two in the West Indies, two in England and one in Australia.
Reacting to Bumrah’s fifer, former pacer Irfan Pathan tweeted, “Champion stuff from a champion bowler 👏 #JaspritBumrah.”
“B𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢M! A fifer for the history books and one that he will never forget 🔥🇮🇳. He’s been absolutely terrific all evening and has been rewarded for it.🙌” his IPL team Mumbai Indians tweeted.
Bumrah’s spell has given India a chance of winning their first Test series in South Africa.
“#JaspritBumrah is one of a kind. Stand out performance by the pace bowlers — with Bumrah exceptional — in taking lead while defending a paltry total. But match not over. Lesson of Wanderers Test is not to count chickens before they are hatched. India’s batting has to prove itself,” Indian sports writer and analyst Ayaz Memon said.
