India climb to the top of WTC standings after historic win over SA in Cape Town

Team India (Photo Source: Twitter)

Team India registered a historic seven-wicket win on Day 2 of the second Test against South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town. The game which saw 23 wickets falling on the opening day was full of action as it became the shortest completed Test in the history of the game getting over in just 107 overs.

Courtesy of their win, India have taken a giant leap in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings for the 2023-25 cycle as they now find themselves on the top of the table with 26 points from four matches having a points percentage of 54.16%.

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Notably, after the loss in the first Test in Centurion, the Rohit Sharma-led side had slipped to sixth position as they were also docked two WTC points for slow over rate while South Africa were on top having a points percentage of 100%.  However, after the loss in the second Test, the Proteas find themselves on the second spot with one win and a loss from two matches having a points percentage of 50%.

Coming back to the match, South Africa resumed their innings on Day 2 on the overnight score of 62/3 trailing India by 36 runs with David Bedingham (7*) and Aiden Markram (36*) at the crease. Speedster Jasprit Bumrah (6/61) got into the act in the first over itself, removing Bedingham for 11. He further got rid of Kyle Verreynne (9 off 7) Marco Jansen (11 off 9) and Keshav Maharaj (3 off 4) to complete his ninth five-wicket haul of his Test career.

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Jasprit Bumrah registered his second consecutive fifer in Cape Town

Seeing wickets fall at the other end, Aiden Markram shifted gears and brought up his seventh Test hundred off just 99 balls. Courtesy of his innings of 106 (103), South Africa posted 176 runs on the board in the second innings setting India a target of 79 runs for victory.

The Rohit Sharma-led side chased down the target in just 12 overs with Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scoring with 28 (23). As a result, India won the match by seven wickets and became the first Asian team to win a Test in Cape Town to level the series 1-1.