“I knew I needed to bowl well” – Simon Harmer after South Africa’s historic win against India at Eden Gardens

Overview

• South Africa stunned India with a 30-run win in the first Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
• Simon Harmer was awarded the Player of the Match.
• He finished with eight wickets in the match.

South Africa stunned India with a 30-run win in the first Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, taking a 1–0 lead in the two-match series. It was Simon Harmer who stood out with a match-winning performance. The off-spinner ran through India’s batting line-up in both innings, returning figures of four wickets each time and finishing with eight wickets in the match. For his impact, he was awarded the Player of the Match.

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At the post-match presentation, Harmer said he felt “nice” after helping his team secure the win, though he admitted he was not fully satisfied with how he started bowling on day three.

“I felt today it was a bit flatter as the ball got older; it wasn't exploding as much. I asked myself some hard questions. Nice to contribute. I have been here before and it was a dark place. So to get here and be in this position, to be behind the eight ball again and to be able to fight back the way we did just shows our belief,” he said.

"I am happy with the win." - Harmer

Harmer continued by stressing that for him, personal numbers matter far less than team success.

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“I'm not a stats man, I'm a win man. I am happy with the win. Still a game to go in the series, so we will enjoy this. I knew I needed to bowl well. We knew we were one partnership away from getting into the game. It was the same with ball in hand. I just needed to try and put as many balls in the right areas. I missed quite a bit today and was lucky with Jurel's wicket. Just happy to be standing in this position with a win behind us,” he added.