India pacer Mohammed Shami claimed five wickets to complete his 200 wickets in Test cricket on Tuesday. Shami brought his A-game to the table on the third day of the first Test against South Africa at Centurion.
The 31-year-old led the Indian pace attack on the third day and destroyed South Africa’s batting line-up with his fierce bowling. He took two crucial wickets to beat Keegan Pietersen and Aiden Markram in the second session. And then he rioted with the ball in the third session, dismissing Temba Bavuma, Wynn Mulder and Kagiso Rabada.
He became the third fastest Indian fast bowler to complete 200 wickets in Test cricket.
Tests for 200 wickets among Indian fast bowlers:
50 – Kapil Dev
54 – Javagal Srinath
55 – Mohammed Shami
63 – Zaheer Khan/Ishant Sharma
India vs South Africa: full coverage , photos , the schedule , result
It was Shami’s sixth five-wicket haul in Test cricket and his second on South African soil.
The 31-year-old took charge of the Indian pace attack in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who was off the field for a long time after spraining his right ankle on the follow through.
Apart from Shami, Rishabh Pant also achieved a major milestone on the third day of the opening Test. Pant broke the record held by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Wriddhiman Saha for the fastest 100 Test dismissals as an Indian wicketkeeper. Pant achieved a major milestone in his 26th Test when he caught Temba Bavuma behind the stumps. Whereas MS Dhoni and Saha took 36-36 Tests to reach this figure.
Meanwhile, India bundled out South Africa for 197 runs in the first innings to take a crucial 130-run lead in the first innings. Temba Bavuma scored 52 runs in 103 balls for South Africa.
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Earlier, South Africa bundled out India for 327 in their first innings at SuperSport Park.
Starting the day at 272/3, the Indian batsmen could only add 55 runs to their overnight score and lost seven wickets early in the morning session.
KL Rahul (123 out of 260) and Mayank Agarwal (60 off 123) were the top scorers for India, while Lungi Ngidi (6/71) and Kagiso Rabada (3/72) were the main wicket-takers for the Proteas.
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