Cape Town/Hyderabad: India, which scripted a memorable win at the New Lands Stadium here in South Africa, now stand at the top of the World Test Championship (WTC) 25 with 26 points. India pilled South Africa to top the World Test Championship 25 standings.
After the win in their opening match of the series against India at Centurion, South Africa was positioned at the top of the WTC25 standings. The loss at Cape Town meant their win percentage fell down to 50%, the same as New Zealand, Australia, and Bangladesh. With the Proteas leading the series with an unassailable 1-0 lead, India needed to bounce back in their only opportunity.
The visitors had a riveting first day of the second Test as they bowled South Africa out for 55. However, after getting a decent start to their innings, India's batting line-up imploded in a bizarre fashion collapsing from 153/4 to 153 all out. Despite faltering, India's bowling resumed from where they had left off in the first innings. This time it was the Jasprit Bumrah show that headlined the second innings as he picked up a five-wicket haul that helped the visitors restrict South Africa to 176. If not for a sensational hundred from Aiden Markram, the hosts would have been in dire straits.
India chased the 79-run target in just 12 overs with Shreyas Iyer hitting the winning shot. The historic win at Cape Town was India's second of the current WTC cycle.
This was also the shortest completed Test in terms of number of balls bowled, breaking a longstanding record 92-year-old record. It only took 642 balls for the Test to complete with a result, beating the 656-ball record in the Australia v South Africa Test in 1932. Still early days in the WTC25 cycle as India will look to grab more points in their upcoming home Test series against England where they will compete in five matches, starting 25 January.
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