Jasprit Bumrah celebrates his five-wicket haul.
Credit: PTI Photo
Kolkata: It had been a while since Jasprit Bumrah stamped his authority on a match with a course-changing show. With "workload management" being the buzz word around the pacer since his return from a back surgery early this year, the 31-year-old has been employed sparingly and while his impact has been even more sparse. But then you can't keep a good player down for too long, and Bumrah chose Eden Gardens' stage to send a gentle reminder about his class with a splendid fifer.
The Gujarat pacer's 16th five-wicket haul (5/27) in his 51st Test took wind out of South African sails as India seized early initiative on the opening day of the first Test here on Friday.
Opener Aiden Markram (31) was the top-scorer as the visitors folded up for what now appears to be an inadequate 159 with Mohammed Siraj (2/47) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/36) playing their part.
The fading light brought an early end to the day's proceedings with India reaching 37 for the loss of Yashasvi Jaiswal. KL Rahul (13 n.o.) and Washington Sundar (6 n.o.) were keeping vigil at stumps.
The pitch had something for the bowlers; while the variable bounce and perceptible turn kept the spinners interested, pacers relished movement off the seam and, later, some reverse swing. Still, the wicket wasn't as bad as South African batters made it out to be. With the pitch, however, expected to suffer more and tear, India would be looking to bat their rivals out of the game.
Winning toss in India can be massive, often tilting the Test towards the team calling it right. With the prospect of pitches deteriorating rapidly never away, batting first, when conditions are ideal, becomes crucial to a team's fortunes. Bavuma got it right when his Indian counterpart Shubman Gill flicked the coin and chose to bat as expected.
For about 50 minutes, South Africa were in control of the proceedings here on the well-attended opening day. Markram and Ryan Rickelton (23) looked comfortable against both Bumrah and Siraj. While they did not take chances against Bumrah, the duo took a great liking to Siraj, smashing 25 runs in his first three overs and forcing an early change.
Axar Patel, the first of the four spinners India brought in on the day, was carted for three fours and a six in his three overs as Gill looked to Ravindra Jadeja.
Trivia time
This is the first time since the 2012 Test against England in Nagpur that India have fielded four spinners in a match. R Ashwin, Jadeja, Pragyan Ojha and Piyush Chawla featured in the drawn Test.
Coming back to South Africa innings, it wasn't long before they reached fifty as India desperately searched for a breakthrough. Gill's instinct and Bumrah's class combined to deliver just that. India have been using Bumrah in short bursts to manage his his once-dodgy back but on the day, Gill gave him an extended spell.
The right-arm quick, coming round the wicket against Rickelton, rearranged the stumps with an angled delivery when the left-hander closed the face of the bat. Markram, who was dealing in boundaries, received an unplayable one from Bumrah with the ball rearing sharply, compelling the batter to edge it to a diving Rishabh Pant. Kuldeep soon made it three, scalping Bavuma through a leg-side trap. Wiaan Mulder and Toni de Zorzi saw off the first session without further damage.
The middle session moved rapidly as the Indian bowlers' guile and the vagaries of the pitch combined to spell doom for South Africa. From 105/3 at lunch to 154/8 at tea, the reigning world Test champions unraveled quickly. Mulder fell to Kuldeep in an attempt to reverse sweep, triggering a collapse. De Zorzi became Bumrah's third victim, caught in front to a sharp incoming ball, while Siraj had Kyle Verreynne lbw for his first scalp. Incredibly, all three batters reviewed their on-field decisions and found all of them to be plumb in front.
With all three reviews for the innings wasted, Keshav Maharaj couldn't reverse the on-field LBW verdict against him though the replays revealed Bumrah's ball would have missed the leg-stump. The bowler wasn't complaining, India were jubilating and the 36000-plus crowd lapped up each moment.
SCORE BOARD
SOUTH AFRICA (I Innings):
Markram c Pant b Bumrah 31
(52m, 48b, 5x4, 1x6)
Rickelton b Bumrah 23
(46m, 22b, 4x4)
Mulder lbw Kuldeep 24
(84m, 51b, 3x4)
Bavuma c Jurel b Kuldeep 3
(21m, 11b)
de Zorzi lbw Bumrah 24
(72m, 55b, 1x4, 1x6)
Stubbs (not out) 15
(120m, 74b, 1x4)
Verreynne lbw Siraj
(53m, 36b, 2x4)
Jansen b Siraj 0
(4m, 3b)
Bosch lbw Axar 3
(29m, 23b)
Harmer b Bumrah 5
(10m, 5b, 1x4)
Maharaj lbw Bumrah 0
(2m, 3b)
Extras (B-8, LB-4, NB-1, W-2) 15
Total (all out, 55 overs) 159
Fall of wickets: 1-57 (Rickleton), 2-62 (Markram), 3-71 (Bavuma), 4-114 (Mulder), 5-120 (de Zorzi), 6-146 (Verreynne), 7-147 (Jansen), 8-154 (Bosch), 9-159 (Harmer).
Bowling: Bumrah 14-5-27-5(w-1, nb-1), Siraj 12-0-472-2 (w-1), Axar 6-2-21-1, Kuldeep 14-1-36-2, Jadeja 8-2-13-0, Washington 1-0-3-0.
INDIA (I Innings):
Jaiswal b Jansen 12
(27b, 35m, 3x4)
Rahul (batting) 13
(59b, 2x4)
Washington (batting) 6
(38b)
Extras (LB-2, NB-4) 6
Total (for 1 wkt, 20 overs) 37
Fall of wicket: 1-18 (Jaiswal).
Bowling: Jansen 6-2-11-1 (nb-2), Mulder 5-1-15-0 (nb-2), Maharaj 5-1-8-0, Bosch 3-2-1-0, Harmer 1-1-0-0.