[Watch] Rishabh Pant's stunner gets Shardul Thakur his maiden fifer in 2nd India vs South Africa Test
Shardul Thakur claimed his maiden five-wicket haul in international cricket on Tuesday, turning the second India versus South Africa Test in Johannesburg on its head. He also became the sixth Indian to have a fifer at the Wanderers.
The all-rounder got to the landmark by dismissing Tema Bavuma, the hosts' best batter of the day. The right-hander reached his 50 by getting an edge through slips on the second ball of Thakur's over. As Bavuma shuffled across the next ball, Thakur smartly bowled it short and on the body, strangling the batter down the leg.
The ball took the inside edge and flew low to the left of wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant who dived brilliantly to grab it with both hands. Here's a video of the dismissal:
😋 https://t.co/W76wmXfWno
Thakur, who has an uncanny habit of breaking partnerships and coming up with crucial breakthroughs, took perhaps the five most important wickets in two spells. Before Lunch, he broke a 74-run stand between Dean Elgar and Keegan Petersen, dismissing them both back-to-back before also getting rid of Rassie van der Dussen.
When Bavuma built another partnership with Kyle Verreynne in the second session, with both dominating on a temporarily unresponsive pitch, Thakur came back and dismissed the latter lbw with a sharp nip-backer. Bavuma looked the most comfortable and could still have played a decisive knock, but Thakur had other ideas.
Shardul Thakur picks best numbers against South Africa
Brilliant bowling from Shardul Thakur as he has registered the best bowling figures by an Indian bowler against South Africa 👏
#India #SouthAfrica #SAvIND https://t.co/oo4HCHtKMJ
The Shardul Thakur show carried on in the final session of the day, as the Mumbaikar also accounted for Marco Jansen (21) and Lungi Ngidi's (0) wickets to return with figures of 7-61.
These are the best numbers for an Indian against South Africa, with the previous best being Ravichandran Ashwin's 7/119 at Vizag in 2016.