Former India bowler Ashish Nehra praised the speedster Jasprit Bumrah for his bowling display in the first Test match against South Africa. The fast bowlers have put India ahead in the game in the opening Test of the three-match series.
South African batting line-up couldn't stand against the Indian pacers who bundled them out on 197 runs in the first innings. Temba Bavuma was the top scorer with 52 runs, and their second-best score of 34 runs came from Quinton de Kock.
For India, Mohammad Shami bagged a fifer, with Jasprit Bumrah and Shardul Thakur picking up two wickets each, and Mohammed Siraj taking one wicket.
India's outstanding bowling performance ensured they took a lead of 130 runs in the first innings. They ended up posting a target of 305 runs in the second innings after South Africa fought back with the ball and bowled out India on 174 runs.
But the target looked good enough after seeing Indian bowlers continuing their domination from the first innings and exploiting the pitch. They picked up four wickets for 94 runs at the end of Day 4.
Bumrah was the one who picked up two quick wickets before the stumps on the penultimate day and then he removed the Proteas captain, Dean Elgar on 77 runs, in the first session of Day 5.
"We can't say that the pitch hasn't helped India but yes, (Jasprit) Bumrah is that kind of bowler he has done this in the past a number of times as well. The Indian pacers were disciplined today, they were patient and stuck to their lines and lengths," Nehra told Cricbuzz.
"Yes there were strong partnerships but the bowlers didn't change their plans too much. It was only after Van der Dussen was dismissed and they knew that they don't have too much time left in the day that we saw experiments like slow balls and yorkers being used," he added.
Bumrah ended Day 4 with an accurate yorker to dismiss Keshav Maharaj, who was sent in by South Africa as a night watchman. "That yorker is something that he has done before and this is what makes him such an x-factor. Even if he hadn't bowled that yorker and taken a wicket, this would have been a good spell from him today," he concluded.
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
