Kolkata The first Test match played at Eden Gardens was in the name of South Africa, where the visiting team defeated India by 30 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series. South African spinner Simon Harmer changed the course of the match with his lethal bowling on a spin-friendly pitch. Harmer successfully saved the lead of 123 runs by taking a total of 8 wickets in the match and played an important role in helping his team win the Test on Indian soil for the first time since 2010.
While chasing the target of 124 runs, the Indian team disintegrated under pressure and the entire team was reduced to 93 runs. Washington Sundar scored the highest score of 31 runs, but the continuous return of other batsmen to the pavilion proved to be detrimental for India. The Indian team could not maintain its home dominance on the turning track, which brought back memories of Chennai 2021 and Mumbai 2024, when Simon Harmer wreaked havoc on the Indian batting order.
Amazing bowling was seen from South Africa in the Kolkata Test. Team India had a target of only 124 runs to win this match, which before the start of the second innings it seemed that the Indian team would easily achieve this target, but it could not happen. Team India was reduced to just 93 runs in front of the deadly bowling of South Africa. South Africa has defended the second lowest target in Test cricket. Earlier in the year 1997, the African team had defended the target of 117 runs in the Sydney Test.
This match saw a spin friendly pitch, on which South Africa’s Simon Harmer presented very dangerous bowling. In the first innings of the match, Harmer took 4 wickets and in the second innings also, Simon Harmer took 8 wickets. Overall, in this match, Simon Harmer took 8 wickets. For this brilliant performance, Harmer was chosen player of the match.
