NEW DELHI: Left-arm pacer
Nandre Burger
made a blazing entry to the tradational format of the game, claiming four crucial wickets on Thursday and propelling South Africa to a resounding victory over India by an innings and 32 runs in the Boxing Day Test in Centurion.
Burger's spellbinding performance -- 4 for 33 in 10 overs, played a massive role as the Proteas bundled out India for a lowly 131 in their second innings, ending the Test inside three days.
Burger's debut was nothing short of spectacular, earning him match figures of 7-83, including two wickets in his first 13 deliveries in the opening innings.
Stepping in for the injured Lungi Ngidi, Burger's swift impact has firmly established him among the esteemed roster of lethal pacers within the South African Test squad.
It has been a good month for Burger, who also debuted for South Africa in Twenty20 and One Day Internationals against India earlier in December.
“It's a feeling I never thought I'd experience to make my debut in all three formats over the last weeks. Obviously, it’s been the best two weeks of my life to date. And hopefully it can just keep getting better,” said Burger.
“It has been an unbelievable experience and feeling to make my Test debut, three days I'll cherish for the rest of my life.
“It kind of sunk in after I took my first wicket that every wicket you take is for your country. I think it's 60 million people, so you're taking it for 60 million people and I kind of had the feeling that I was taking it for all those people every single time and I think that's what really made me so pumped.”
Burger removed the dangerous Shubman Gill in the first innings and KL Rahul at a crucial juncture of the second innings, precipitating the Indian collapse.
“In all honestly, I was just trying to bowl the ball straight. Maybe trying to hit the stumps every once in a while. I think on the first day bowling first was quite nice, because it allowed me to get myself into the game. The crowd got me pumped and the feeling was a bit surreal at times.”
Also surreal was bowling to the likes of
Rohit Sharma
and
Virat Kohli
, he said.
“The presence they have is a little different. It geed me up more than anything. I felt like I wanted to get those wickets, I wanted to be the guy to end their stay at the crease,” Burger added.
South Africa will be looking to sweep the two-test series in the next encounter at Newlands in Cape Town, which starts on Wednesday.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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