Proteas make history in India

Temba Bavuma achieved a major goal leading a South African team to a first Test series win in India in 25 years on Wednesday.

The Proteas wrapped up a 408-run second Test victory in Guwahati to claim a 2-0 series win, the first since Hansie Cronje led his side to victory by the same margin in 2000.

After winning the World Test Championship in June, Bavuma made success in the subcontinent a priority.

“I’d like us to be in a position where we’ve been able to go to Pakistan and we’ve been able to go to India and have victories there,” he said at Lord’s.

Off-spinner Simon Harmer, who watched that win over the Australians and spoke to Bavuma and coach Shukri Conrad about rekindling his Test career, was the star on Wednesday, picking up 6/37.

Since returning to the Proteas for the series in Pakistan - which South Africa drew 1-1 - Harmer has taken 30 wickets, 17 of those in this series, where he has out-bowled not just teammate Keshav Maharaj but also India’s tweakers, including Ravi Jadeja, who has taken almost 350 Test wickets.

Harmer claimed a second five-wicket haul on Wednesday finishing the match with 9/101.

South Africa missed two chances in the first half an hour of the last day, with Marco Jansen called for a no ball after finding the edge of Sai Sudharsan’s bat, while Aiden Markram dropped Kuldeep Yadav off Harmer.

Neither misses were costly. Markram in fact, grabbed four catches, adding to his five in the first innings to set a new Test record for an outfielder, beating the previous mark of eight held by India’s Ajinkye Rahane.

Harmer bowled Kuldeep with an arm-ball and three balls later had Dhruv Jurel caught by Markram at slip. Rishabh Pant was Harmer’s fourth wicket, with a delivery that bounced more than India’s stand-in skipper thought and struck him on the gloves, giving Markram an easy catch.

Senuran Muthusamy then claimed his only wicket of the Test when Sudharsan, who’d been ultra-defensive, edged a full delivery to slip having faced 139 balls to make 14.

Ravi Jadeja showed more endeavour, scoring a fighting half-century but Harmer, bowling from the opposite end from which he’d picked up his other wickets, delivered a rip-snorter to Washington Sundar, that bounced and spun viciously, with Markram holding onto a sharp catch.

After Nitish Kumar Reddy was caught by Kyle Verreynne trying to reverse sweep, Maharaj completed the rout, dismissing Jadeja, stumped for 54. Then Jansen took a stunning one-handed catch running backwards from mid-on, shocking both batter Mohammad Siraj and his teammates.

“It’s a great feeling,” Markram said of winning the series. “This is a tough place to come, India is a very good side and these are conditions that we’re not used to. We are all bloody proud as a team.”