When Jasprit Bumrah bowls, batters’ individual agency is in a state of suspended animation. They can rarely choose what happens to them. Bumrah inevitably decides.
Friday at the Eden Gardens was one such day as the maverick pacer blew South Africa away with a mesmerising performance (five for 27) on a lively pitch with not-so-consistent bounce.
The 31-year-old’s third five-wicket haul at home – out of 16 overall – helped dismiss the visitors for 159 paltry runs. And by stumps on day one, India had reached 37 for one, with opener K.L. Rahul (13 batting, 59b, 2×4) and one-drop Washington Sundar (six batting, 38b) — who replaced B. Sai Sudharsan in the slot, in what is becoming a musical chair of sorts — keeping vigil.
The hosts did have one less thing to worry about, for star pacer Kagiso Rabada missed out because of a rib injury.
The day’s proceedings seemed like a cruel joke on Temba Bavuma’s men. India lined up with a four-pronged spin attack — for the first time since 2012 — comprising Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington and Axar Patel, only for the punch in the gut to come from Bumrah’s incredible sleight of hand.
In fact, South Africa prospered for an hour in the morning. After winning the toss, Aiden Markram (31, 48b, 5×4, 1×6) and Ryan Rickelton (23, 22b, 4×4) put on 57 convincing runs, with the former’s astonishing six off Axar, after walking down two steps, the standout shot.
But it proved brief, illusory, and in hindsight, conditional to Bumrah’s brilliance. First to go was Rickelton, who played inside the line and lost his off stump. In Bumrah’s next over, the speedster surprised Markram with a delivery that rose awkwardly, and it flew off the bat straight into Rishabh Pant’s safe hands.
Kuldeep, who toiled hard on an unresponsive pitch last week in Bengaluru in the India-A versus South Africa-A ‘Test’, found the Kolkata strip more to his liking. There was turn, and not of the slow variety, and both these facets played a part in his dismissal of Bavuma, caught sharply by Dhruv Jurel at leg-slip.
Wiaan Mulder (24, 51b, 3×4) and Tony de Zorzi (24, 55b, 1×4, 1×6) attempted to nurse the wounds and were successful for nearly 14 overs. But a moment’s rush of blood from Mulder, as he attempted a reverse-sweep off Kuldeep, proved fatal as he was adjudged leg-before.
Bumrah, who had bowled a superb first spell (7-4-9-2), returned for a second burst which read 5-0-14-1. He alternated between being a fiery expressionist and a subtle purveyor of the art of fast bowling as he mixed up searing yorkers with clever changes of pace.
de Zorzi was pinned to the crease and trapped in front, and Kyle Verreynne was toyed with and never allowed to settle. Mohammed Siraj took advantage of the softening up and duly removed Verreynne and Marco Jansen in the span of four balls.
It was not long before Bumrah applied the finishing touches by getting rid of Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj with some furious wicket-to-wicket bowling, eliciting a thunderous applause from the 36,000-odd fans present.
Scoreboard
South Africa 1st Innings: Aiden Markram c Pant b Jasprit Bumrah 31 Ryan Rickelton b Jasprit Bumrah 23 Wiaan Mulder lbw b Kuldeep Yadav 24 Temba Bavuma c Dhruv Jurel b Kuldeep Yadav 3 Tony de Zorzi lbw b Jasprit Bumrah 24 Tristan Stubbs not out 15 Kyle Verreynne lbw b Mohammed Siraj 16 Marco Jansen b Mohammed Siraj 0 Corbin Bosch lbw b Axar Patel 3 Simon Harmer b Bumrah 5 Keshav Maharaj lbw Bumrah 0 Extras (b 8, lb 4, w 2, nb 1) 15
Total (In 55 Overs) 159
Fall of wickets: 1-57, 2-62, 3-71, 4-114, 5-120, 6-146, 7-147, 8-154, 9-159
Indian bowling: Bumrah 14-5-27-5, Siraj 12-0-47-2, Axar Patel 6-2-21-1, Kuldeep Yadav 14-1-36-2, Ravindra Jadeja 8-2-13-0, Washington Sundar 1-0-3-0.
India 1st Innings: Yashasvi Jaiswal b Marco Jansen 12 KL Rahul not out 13 Washington Sundar not out 6 Extras: (LB-2, NB-4) 6
Total: (For 1 wkt, 20 Overs) 37
Fall of Wickets: 1-18
South Africa bowling: Marco Jansen 6-2-11-1, Wiaan Mulder 5-1-15-0, Keshav Maharaj 5-1-8-0, Corbin Bosch 3-2-1-0, Simon Harmer 1-1-0-0.
Published – November 14, 2025 11:05 am IST
