South Africa’s miserable tour of India finished with another massive defeat in Ranchi, the first time in over 80 years that the Proteas have lost successive tests by an innings.
Here are our talking points from the fixture in Ranchi.
Proteas test debuts for Linde and Klaasen: South Africa made as many as five changes for this Ranchi test. Two were injury enforced from Pune- Markram and Maharaj, while Theunis de Bruyn, Vernon Philander and Senuran Muthusamy were also shown the door.
George Linde and Heinrich Klaasen both made their test debuts. While Linde acquitted himself well, with handy knocks in both innings and four wickets in India’s first innings, Klaasen had one to forget, making just 6 and 5 in two outings at the crease.
Given that Rudi Second was originally the reserve wicket keeper on tour and that Kyle Verreynne is churning up some impressive numbers on the domestic circuit, it may be a while before we see Klaasen in tests again.
Heinrich Klaasen (28) v Kyle Verreynne (22) FC (Only Titans & Cobras games, no WP/Northerns)
Klaasen- 36 innings, 1342 runs (HS 195) at 40.66
Verreynne- 34 inns, 1493 runs (HS 155) at 51.48Klaasen SA A record- 11 inns, 243 runs (HS 103) @ 22.09#sscricket #INDvSA #Proteas
— thecricketblog (@thecricblogger) October 21, 2019
Both debutants also had the rather unique distinction of batting both their innings (in full) on the same day!
Zubayr Hamza impressive: He’s long been hailed as the next Amla, and Zubayr Hamza was probably the best batsman for the Proteas in Ranchi. Made 62 in the first innings and looked very comfortable before being bowled by Jadeja. Once he fell, the rest didn’t last too long either. Has probably leapfrogged Theunis de Bruyn in the queue based on this performance.
Another fabulous performance from Rohit Sharma: If you had told Indian fans that their side would be 39/3 in the first hour of play on the first day, few would’ve expected Sharma to still be at the express. The MI star survived a fiery spell of bowling and then unleashed himself- he was particularly harsh on poor Dane Piedt. Rohit’s double century now makes his home record literally Bradmanesque!
Dane Piedt disappoints again: Recalled to the squad after missing out on the Pune test, this was another disappointing show from Dane Piedt. He was taken to the cleaners and his figures looked more T20 like than test. His dismissal in the Proteas second innings was also disappointing, going for a heave when he had looked relatively untroubled at the wicket. All in all, a tour to forget for the Cobras spinner- perhaps the worst performing player after Aiden Markram.
South Africa’s away struggles: The Proteas have now won only four of their last 21 away tests in the last five years, and their W/L ratio for this period (0.333), is lower than even Sri Lanka’s (India, Australia, Pakistan, England and New Zealand all boast better ratios). A truly disappointing performance.
South Africa player ratings for the Ranchi Test
South Africa player ratings from #INDvSA Ranchi third Test. Very tempted to give a few zeros, but test cricket is hard work in the heat, so….
Elgar 1
QdK 1
Hamza 6
Faf 1
Bavuma 3
Klaasen 1
Linde 5
De Bruyn 2.5
Piedt 1
Rabada 3.5
Ngidi 1
Nortje 2#sscricket #indvssa #Proteas— thecricketblog (@thecricblogger) October 22, 2019