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South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma leads a historic Test victory over India at Eden Gardens, with coach Shukri Conrad praising harmony.
Temba Bavuma led South Africa to a 30-run win against India (Picture credit: AP)
After going seven down for 93 on day 2, South Africa’s only beacon of hope in Kolkata was their World Champion captain, Temba Bavuma. Being addressed as a ‘bauna’ (a dwarf) by ace India pacer Jasprit Bumrah may not have affected him, but his heroics on Sunday dwarfed India’s confidence.
The visitors, who looked on top of things till Saturday evening, were robbed by the visitors from the rainbow nation. Bavuma’s spirited South Africa registered a surprising 30-run win, a victory after 15 years, wrapping the primary Tests at Eden Gardens in 8 sessions.
The onlookers may blame the pitch and the demons in it, which got here out much sooner than predicted, on the second day itself, to haunt each teams. But what the chief curator Sujan Mukherjee had predicted earlier, “The batter who shows intent will succeed,” turned out to be the silver lining.
With a 63-run lead and three wickets in hand, South Africa needed Bavuma to play a captain’s knock, knowing that the pitch would disintegrate. And what he got here up with was a legendary act.
A 44-run partnership with Corbin Bosch for the eighth wicket and his seventh 50+ rating within the last 11 innings was the difference between India’s defeat and South Africa’s historic win.
The skipper doubled up their overnight lead, setting India a forbidding 125-run goal.
The applying was the important thing that Temba showed and but not one of the Indian batters. Chasing 124, India collapsed for 93, missing injured captain Shubman Gill. On a pitch expected to help Indian spinners, Simon Harmer’s eight wickets proved decisive, renewing concerns over India’s batting on turning tracks.
“Coming on this morning, I believe my message to the guy was at all times to only attempt to play what’s in front of you, try to not have too many preconceived ideas. And unfortunately, this morning it did type of calm down a bit,” Bavuma told the media after winning the primary Test.
“There was still a little bit of turn, but Corbin and I could construct a partnership. It was more a case of just play what’s in front of you, keep your nerve, but importantly keep the assumption that the result can still go away.”
“Just keeping our nerve, playing what’s in front of us and keeping that belief,” Bavuma added.
A goal of 125 doesn’t seem intimidating, but given the condition of the Eden Gardens pitch on day 3. But that fifty within the third innings, perhaps the one fifty-plus rating in all the game, gave him the concept India might miss a trick.
“It’s not every single day you rating 125 and feel that’s a winning total, but we knew the pitch was tough. We had seen during our own batting how difficult it was on the market. We took confidence from the best way we put them under pressure with the ball in the primary innings — the bowling really brought us back into the sport. And as I said earlier, the stats here show that prime successful run chases aren’t common,” he said.
“It was unlucky for them that they lost their captain. He’s an enormous player, especially in that batting lineup, and his absence probably made things barely easier for us.”
The third day belonged to Bavuma. After scoring an innings-defining fifty, he used his bowling resources well. And when needed, he also threw himself on the road. It was the thirty fifth over when Axar Patel looked to shift gears, sensing a shortage of able batting partners.
Ryan Rickleton’s misjudgment gave if the space to smash a 4 and a few sixes. But just when the gang got charged up, a miscued shot went up within the air and Bavuma plucked it together with his fingers to finish India’s hopes.
When asked about thoughts running through his mind before taking the catch amid the cheers from Indian fans, Bavuma said, “Simply to ensure to catch the ball.”
“There’s not much time to think during those moments. The ball went quite high. But yeah, I just tried to ensure that I catch the ball,” he added.
The Deadly Combo Of Shukri Conrad & Temba Bavuma
The yr 2025 has been one among historic firsts for South African cricket. They conquered Australia at Lord’s to grow to be World Test Champions, and now have clinched their first Test win on Indian soil since 2010.
The partnership of head coach Shukri Conrad and captain Temba Bavuma continues to script milestones with remarkable consistency — the Kolkata victory marking their tenth win in only 11 matches.
And the key behind this success just isn’t a magic wand that the coach moves on a regular basis, but togetherness among the many boys who never want to offer up.
“Grateful he hasn’t lost the Test match as a captain yet,” said a comfortable coach, Conrad, after the historic win.
“South Africa is a rustic with a various culture and this variation room has embraced all of them. We’ve allowed people, players, to be exactly who they’re, how they need to do things. But it surely’s a bunch of mates which can be playing together. They don’t hand over. They practice hard, they party hard. And more importantly, we’ve just allowed a culture to develop organically moderately than stick a couple of points and that is how we wish to do things.”
“So, no magic wand or recipe, just showing faith in them,” the coach concluded.
When asked concerning the controversial remark from Bumrah on the opening day, Conrad said, “Bavuma has the center of a large.”
A cricket enthusiast whose dreams of playing for India paved the best way for a compelling journey in journalism. With a comprehensive coverage spanning international and domestic cricket across formats, I actually have had …Read More
A cricket enthusiast whose dreams of playing for India paved the best way for a compelling journey in journalism. With a comprehensive coverage spanning international and domestic cricket across formats, I actually have had … Read More
November 16, 2025, 19:29 IST
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