South Africa completed a remarkable turnaround at Cape Town where they thrashed India by seven wickets to win the Test series 2-1 – here are marks out of 10 for the performances of the Proteas.
Aiden Markram – 2/10
76 runs @ 12.66, HS 31
The South Africa opener failed to get going through the series, and gave India a breakthrough early in each South Africa innings.
Dean Elgar – 7.5/10
235 runs @ 47, HS 96*
After failing in the first innings of the Centurion game, the skipper got his act together. He also led his side with aplomb, keeping them grounded and ticking off all the right boxes against their stronger opponents. He scored a strong 77 at Centurion, while his unbeaten 96 won them the Johannesburg game.
Keegan Petersen – 8/10
276 runs @ 46, HS 82
The series was a coming-of-age experience for Keegan, who was not only Player of the Match in the deciding contest at Cape Town but also the Player of the Series. The batter was composed against a quality pace line-up, and attacked whenever the opportunity presented itself. His three half-centuries were quality knocks, and it seems South Africa have a quality number three batter in their ranks.
Temba Bavuma – 8/10
221 runs @ 73.66, HS 52
The experienced batter might not have played an individual knock which took the game away from India, but he made sure that the India bowlers had to work hard to get his wicket in each innings. He was unbeaten on three occasions for his side, and was at the crease when his side won the two Tests against India.
Rassie van der Dussen – 5/10
117 runs @ 23.4, HS 41*
Rassie played a couple of crucial forties in the second innings of Johannesburg and Cape Town Tests respectively, but largely failed to get going other than these efforts.
Quinton de Kock – 5/10
55 runs @ 27.5, HS 34, 7 catches
The keeper played only one Test before announcing his shock retirement at the end of the Boxing Day Test.
Kyle Verreynne – 5/10
21 runs @ 10.5, HS 21, 14 catches
The young keeper was de Kock’s replacement and had only two innings to his name. He did a fine job behind the stumps, albeit on wickets which provided a lot of support to pace bowlers.
Wiaan Mulder – 2/10
13 runs @ 6.5, 0 wickets
The young all-rounder failed to trouble India in any respect in his only game and was dropped for the rest of the series.
Keshav Maharaj – 4/10
1 wicket @ 119, 66 runs @ 16.5
The experienced South Africa spinner had little role to play on surfaces not meant to assist him but managed to hang around enough to frustrate India’s bowlers in the second and third Tests. His 25 in Cape Town were crucial runs which ensured that South Africa conceded a lead of mere 13 runs.
Marco Jansen – 9/10
60 runs @ 15, 19 wickets @ 16.47, BBI 4-31
The young pacer was South Africa’s find of the series. He improved with each innings (after starting off with 1-69 at Centurion, he picked 4-55 in the second innings), and finished with 19 wickets including two four-fors. He was also unafraid of the reputation of some of the senior India players and fought fire with fire.
Duanne Olivier – 5/10
5 wickets @ 39, BBI 3-64
Many hopes were pinned on the player returning to the South Africa setup but Olivier seemed short on pace if not skill during his two Test outings. After getting 3-64 in Johannesburg first innings, Olivier failed to recreate the same magic with the ball.
Lungi Ngidi – 8/10
15 wickets @ 15, BBI 6-71
The young pacer was expected to do the majority of hard work for South Africa along with Kagiso Rabada, given the absence of some senior players. And the fast bowler managed to deliver. He picked up only seven wickets in the last two Tests, but his economy rate of 2.7 through the series ensured that he was never taken apart and that he maintained pressure from the other end.
Kagiso Rabada – 9/10
20 wickets @ 19.05, BBI 4-42
There were only a few patches when South Africa’s premium bowler looked a tad bit ordinary, but for most of the series he was spot on. His impact can be understood from the fact that he picked a minimum of three wickets in each of his bowling innings.
