India’s series win over South Africa proves they are still worthy World Champions

One man towers above the rest — Bumrah, arguably India’s greatest all-format match-winner. When the hope began to drift midway through the chase, Suryakumar Yadav searched for Bumrah. Preserving him for the middle overs has been a tactic that has stood vindicated. There are others that could provide the breakthrough with the new ball, but few seamers amongst India’s lot could wreak as much havoc as Bumrah could in this phase, especially when the match is on a knife’s edge.

A ball change helped. Bumrah was armed with a less dew-ravaged ball. Better grip meant better control. His cutters wouldn’t slip out of his hands and he sparked off a festival of cutters, deceptive and disguised. The first ball, though, was wayward. A full toss Dewald Brevis could eke out a single. The next was a well-directed bouncer the umpire considered was too high. Then arrived the slower yorker that stunned Quiton De Kock, who just patted the ball back to Bumrah for the simplest of return catches. Bumrah kept giggling; De Kock, out for 65 off 35, cursed himself. He was South Africa’s biggest hope.

The strike had come just after he and Brevis plundered 42 runs in two overs, after De Kock and Reeza Hendricks had rattled 69 runs from 6.2 overs. But South Africa could not afford a phase of lull because it could take the game interminably away from them. South Africa could muster another jailbreak as Varun returned to terminate Aiden Markram and Donovan Ferreira off successive deliveries to puncture South Africa’s hopes.

Markram foxed

Markram, in form and a destroyer of spinners, was nailed in front, missing the ball completely when attempting a paddle sweep. Ferreira simply did not possess the knowhow to deal with Varun’s mysteries. He slithered in the wrong one that snaked through the tiny gap between the gate. It was the inward drift that beat him in the first place, fooling him to believe that the ball was breaking away.

The lone flickering hope was David Miller. But when Arshdeep Singh consumed him, with the total score on 154, the chase was effectively over. Varun and Bumrah then performed the mopping up to seal the series win. Then, it was a game where India found a surge of inspiration at almost every passage of the game. Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya creamed 105 runs of 7.2 overs in an unstoppable cocktail of power and precision. Hardik’s blistering knock (63 off 25) would overshadow the more dexterous one of Tilak (73 off 42). But the left-handed batsman batted with a strike rate of 173, punctuated with delightful boundaries behind square. When he finds some width outside the off-stump, he almost waits for the ball to pass him before slicing it fine. He has a wide spread of strokes too, from ramps and sweeps to conventional drives and bullet thuds down the ground. He could wield the muscle as well as use the velvet touch.

He strode into a position of comfort, after the openers had shellacked 63 runs in 5.4 overs. Sanju, was the more (relatively that is) aggressive of the two. Returning to his favourite opening slot, he emphasised his virtues again. Just the fourth ball he faced, he flicked a length ball from Marco Jansen on middle stump over the long-on fence with minimal flourish or power. His rubbery wrists shone through. He purred at a strike rate better than Abhishek Sharma. Two straight-driven fours, one along the ground and the other over the mid-on fielder, were met with gasps of joy from the audience, gradually filling up the saffron-coloured seats. He departed for 36, just when it seemed that he was destined for a bigger knock that would have complicated selection equations when Shubman Gill returned. The only note of concern was Suryakumar Yadav’s failure, which meant he would end the year without a half-century. But he has numerous match-winners in his stable to end his year on a sweet note.