Jansen stars for South Africa as India struggle
JOHANNESBURG: Four years after impressing Indian captain Virat Kohli as a net bowler, Marco Jansen produced a destructive spell of bowling for South Africa on the first day of the second Test at the Wanderers Stadium on Monday.
The 21-year-old Jansen, a tall left-arm fast bowler playing in only his second Test, returned impressive figures of 4-31 in 17 overs as India were bowled out for 202 after winning the toss and electing to bat on a wicket that they expected to offer rewards for the batsmen.
South Africa were 35-1 in reply at the close of play, with captain Dean Elgar (11 not out) and Keegan Petersen (14 not out) to return on Tuesday.
Kohli was one of Jansen’s five wickets on debut in the first Test in Centurion, which India won by 113 runs but was absent on Monday because of an upper back spasm.
Stand-in captain K.L. Rahul top-scored with a patient 50, while Ravichandran Ashwin made a hard-hitting 46.
Jansen, who towers above most of his teammates at 2.03 metres, made the most of the steep bounce on offer at the Wanderers, troubling most of the batsmen with his pace and bounce.
When he dismissed Rahul, Jansen had the remarkable figures of two for nine in 9.5 overs. His figures were spoilt slightly by Ashwin, who, almost alone of the Indian batsmen, decided attack was the best form of defence. But he played one shot too many to be Jansen’s fourth victim.
Jansen and his twin brother Duan, who also went on to play first-class cricket, bowled to the Indians on their 2017/18 tour and attracted the attention of Kohli.
Jansen, who also snagged Rishabh Pant for 17, made his Indian Premier League debut for the Mumbai Indians last year before gaining his first Test cap at Centurion.
Duanne Olivier, returning to the South African team after spending three years as a Kolpak player with English county Yorkshire, took three for 64, the same figures as Kagiso Rabada.
Jansen made the first breakthrough, having Mayank Agarwal caught behind after Agarwal and Rahul put on 36 in the first hour.
Olivier plunged India into trouble from which they never fully emerged by dismissing Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane off successive balls when the total was on 49. Pujara was caught off a top edge for three before Rahane was caught by Petersen at second slip.
Jansen added Rahul’s wicket after he played a rare poor shot, hooking the ball to fine leg where Kagiso Rabada made a superb diving catch before Ashwin hit a ball straight into the sky for Petersen to take one of three catches.
South Africa again made a poor start, with Aiden Markram falling leg before wicket to Mohammed Shami for seven in the fourth over.
Elgar and Petersen survived to the close, although Petersen was dropped by wicketkeeper Risabh Pant off Jasprit Bumrah when he had 12.
There was a scare for the Indians when Mohammed Siraj left the field clutching his right hamstring after bowling the fifth ball of the penultimate over of the day.
Scoreboard
INDIA (1st innings):
K.L. Rahul c Rabada b Jansen 50
M. Agarwal c Verreynne b Jansen 26
C. Pujara c Bavuma b Olivier 3
A. Rahane c Petersen b Olivier 0
H. Vihari c Van der Dussen b Rabada 20
R. Pant c Verreynne b Jansen 17
R. Ashwin c Petersen b Jansen 46
S. Thakur c Petersen b Olivier 0
Mohammed Shami c and b Rabada 9
J. Bumrah not out 14
Mohammed Siraj c Verreynne b Rabada 1
EXTRAS (B-8, LB-3, NB-5) 16
TOTAL (all out, 63.1 overs) 202
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-36 (Agarwal), 2-49 (Pujara), 3-49 (Rahane), 4-91 (Vihari), 5-116 (Rahul), 6-155 (Pant), 7-157 (Thakur), 8-185 (Shami), 9-187 (Ashwin).
BOWLING: Rabada 17.1-2-64-3 (3nb), Olivier 17-1-64-3 (1nb), Ngidi 11-4-26-0, Jansen 17-5-31-4 (1nb), Maharaj 1-0-6-0.
SOUTH AFRICA (1st innings):
D. Elgar not out 11
A. Markram lbw b Shami 7
K. Petersen not out 14
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-1) 3
TOTAL (for one wkt, 18 overs) 35
FALL OF WICKET: 1-14 (Markram).
BOWLING: Bumrah 8-3-14-0 (1w), Shami 6-2-15-1, Siraj 3.5-2-4-0, Thakur 0.1-0-0-0.
TO BAT: H. van der Dussen, T. Bavuma, K. Verreynne, M. Jansen, K. Maharaj, K. Rabada, D. Olivier, L. Ngidi.
UMPIRES: Marais Erasmus, Allahuddien Paleker (both South Africa).
TV UMPIRE: Adrian Holdstock (South Africa).
MATCH REFEREE: Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe).
Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2022
