South African test captain Temba Bavuma extended his remarkable, unbeaten record as captain to 11 wins out of 12 when his team thrashed India by 408 runs in the second match of the series in Guwahati on Wednesday.
Starting the fifth day on 27-2 requiring an impossible 549 to win, the home side’s attempt to bat out the day for a draw were undermined by offspinner Simon Harmer who took 6-37 to take his tally for the series to 17 wickets at a jaw-dropping average of just 8.9 runs each as India were dismissed for just 140.
6/37 for Simon Harmer ⭐
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) November 26, 2025
The best innings figures by a South African spinner in Indian conditions 🇿🇦🔝#SSCricket | #INDvSA | #WTC27 pic.twitter.com/WTkXke2Vsd
“It’s a massive achievement for the team and, for me personally, something I’ve been working towards and dreaming about for the last two months being injured and out of the game. It’s not every day that you can walk away from India with a two-nil series win,” Bavuma said afterwards.
“What makes it sweeter for some of us is that we’ve been on the other side of the result and we know how tough it can be to win here, so for this group of gentlemen it’s an incredible achievement,” Bavuma said before being asked whether anything had ‘changed’ from the last two series in India in which the tourists were comfortably beaten 3-0.
“There’s been a big shift in mindset, about adapting to different conditions and playing what is in front of you. Everyone knows what their role is, what they want to do and how to go about it. As a team we’re in a very good space and winning in India will grow our confidence even more,” Bavuma said.
“Every single player is contributing, even the guys who come off the bench. As a captain it’s difficult to get the ball out of the bowlers’ hands, they just want to keep bowling, especially Simon and Kesh. Simon was the man for us in this series, we’re so used it being Kesh, but they complement each other and work together brilliantly.
“And we see it with the bat, too, everyone is contributing. We maybe don’t have the guys who go on and score the big 150s but we’ll have four or five guys who score 60 or 70. I could go on forever about the team but, as I said, we are in a good place,” Bavuma said.
More Test history for Temba 😤©️
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) November 26, 2025
He becomes the second South African Test captain to win a series in India ✅✅#SSCricket | #INDvSA | #WTC27 pic.twitter.com/HWZmbmaI1f
MARKRAM CATCHES WORLD RECORD
India’s stand-in captain, Rishabh Pant, was contrite but also complimentary. “They dominated the series, you can’t take cricket for granted. We need to be clear with our mindset and there were moments in the game when we were up, but we didn’t capitalise on them as a team. But in future we’ll learn from it and get better,” Pant said.
“Definitely they played the better cricket but, at the same time, if you play at home or away you need that extra determination. There are moments when you need to capitalise as a batting unit and we didn’t do that for long enough, and that cost us the whole series,” Pant said.
Harmer toured India with the Proteas in 2015 and made little impact despite pitches which had been ‘doctored’ to favour the spinners:
“I’m going to leave with much fonder memories than I did last time. To be back here, 10 years later, and to have got over the line and win two-nil, it’s still a bit surreal. That was always the goal against a very good Indian team but it was still a hell of an effort,” Harmer said.
“We knew they were going to bat for their lives today and put up a fight but we knew that, if stayed in the game long enough and put enough balls in the right areas, things would happen for us.
"There were some sharp catches at slip by Aiden, and a couple from Marco, which went a long towards winning, but it’s just a very special feeling and I’m looking forward to celebrating the win,” Harmer said.
Markram, in fact, set a world record with a remarkable nine catches in the match beating the eight taken by renown Indian slip fielder, Ajinkya Rahana against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2015:
“It’s credit to the bowlers. All you can do as a fielder is try and catch them and make them happy, but the bowlers put in a massive shift and all the credit goes to them,” Markram said before expanding on Bavuma’s assertion that attitudes to playing in India had changed.
“You want to believe you can get into the battle and compete with the best in their own backyard and see where it gets you. We needed a few moments of good luck along the way, I suppose, but we’re here now and I’m just bloody proud of this team,” Markram said.
“It was important not to have preconceived ideas about the conditions, we’ve been pretty good at competing in whatever conditions we find ourselves in. There was a lot of chat about spin and the quality of their seamers with the new ball, but you don’t want to have any demons in your mind before you’ve even faced or bowled a ball.
“It was a big test of the character of this group, to come here and win, and I’m very proud of everyone,” Markram said.
The first of three ODIs between the teams takes place on Sunday.