Before the start of the Freedom Trophy series, you could be forgiven for predicting a reasonably close encounter. South Africa were the number one Test nation but India’s home advantage would inevitably result in spinners’ wickets. In the end, reputation counted for nothing and the Indian slow bowlers enjoyed extraordinary success.
I can’t recall a series of any length when two bowlers each took more than 20 wickets at under 12 apiece. Ravi Ashwin wasn’t even content with 31 scalps at 11.12; he even weighed in with 56 runs first innings runs at Delhi – more than the South African top seven (AB excepted) combined! Ravi Jadeja was also brilliant, and the visiting batsmen (AB excepted) were totally outplayed throughout.
Only seven days’ play was possible from the first three Tests, four lost because of rain, four lost because the Saffers’ batting (AB excepted) was so frail. Then at Delhi, Indian fans were treated not only to five days’ cricket but also their side’s record margin of victory in runs terms in history!
I had become concerned at the future of Test cricket with so many abbreviated games. Batsmen thrashing the ball in T20 mode, giving away their wickets, does not make for interesting Test matches. A bit of short-term entertainment perhaps but leaves you wanting more. That’s what made the Delhi climax so unusual.
When perusing the scorecard I thought I must have accidentally come across stats from the 1920s not 2015. 143 in 143.1 overs?! The top two spinners bowling 95 overs for 87 runs??!! AB De Villiers, of course, top-scored in both South Africa’s innings and in that epic defensive effort broke the record of the most balls faced in a sub-50 Test innings. For a player so brilliant in limited overs cricket – he scored those three hundreds in the ODI series, remember – this was an amazing statistic. And they so nearly survived the marathon spin attack.
Yet amidst the carnage when SA batted, Ajinkya Rahane conjured up an unbeaten century to set up the declaration. That was only the second three-figure score of the whole series, and Rahane had also scored the first. Credit to Kyle Abbott, too, claiming a rare five-wicket haul for the pace brigade. Dale Steyn may have been largely missing from action but he wouldn’t have made the slightest difference to the overall result.
A great series for India, an even better one for slow bowling but a major headache for South Africa who must now dust themselves down and recover some poise before meeting England. I wouldn’t rule out a few surprises but I’d lay odds that it won’t be Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid deciding the result!
