5 big records that were broken in India's 7-wicket win in the 2nd Test vs SA 

Team India kicked off their 2024 season with a superb win against South Africa at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town on Thursday, January 4. With the win, the two-match series ended 1-1 after the hosts won the opening game in Centurion.

Chasing a paltry score of 79, India lost three wickets before Shreyas Iyer (4*) hit the winning runs with a four over long-on. Rohit Sharma remained unbeaten on 17.

It was one of those rare games that lasted only five sessions, with a total of 464 runs scored in four innings. The bounce off the deck was quite disconcerting, as batters found it difficult to bide their time at the crease.

The victory on Thursday has seen Team India surpass South Africa to move to the top of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 table with 54.16% points to their name.

After bundling South Africa out for 55 runs in the first innings, India took a 98-run first-innings lead. In reply, the hosts kept losing wickets at regular intervals. However, Aiden Markram stood tall in the second innings and struck a brilliant 106 off only 103 balls.

This gave India a target of 79 runs before Yashasvi Jaiswal's 28-run cameo helped the visitors secure a good win.

There were quite a few records that were broken during the recently concluded Test match. Here is a compilation of five such records.

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#1 Shortest ever Test match (by balls bowled)

South Africa and India squads after 2nd Test

The second Test between India and South Africa will go down in the history books as the shortest Test match ever played. The match ended in just one-and-a-half days, lasting a mere five sessions.

Only a total of 107 overs (642 balls) were required to finish the Test match. This is now a world record for the least number of balls bowled in a Test match to produce a result.

The second IND-SA Test broke a 92-year-old record that was set in a match between South Africa and Australia, which lasted for 656 balls at Melbourne in 1932.

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#2 First Asian Team to record a Test match win at Cape Town

South Africa v India - 2nd Test

It was a must-win match for the Men in Blue, who entered the fixture without winning a single Test at Cape Town ever. In their seventh attempt, however, India managed to secure the win.

India's seven-wicket win on Thursday makes them the first-ever Asian side to win a Test match at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town.

Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka have so far played four Test matches each at the venue but have lost all of them.

India now have one win, four losses and two draws after seven Tests in Cape Town.

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#3 Second-most wickets on Day 1 of a Test match

South Africa v India - 2nd Test

It was one of the most dramatic days of Test cricket when as many as 23 wickets fell on Day 1 of the second Test between India and South Africa.

After the hosts decided to bat first, they were completely rattled by the Indian pacers. Mohammed Siraj, in particular, was quite magnificent, taking career-best figures of 6/15. All 10 South African wickets fell in the first session.

In reply, India were all-out for 153 in 34.5 overs after a dramatic collapse, losing their last 6 wickets for the addition of no runs. South Africa then had to bat for 17 overs in the third session. By the end of the day's play, the hosts had lost three wickets.

A total of 23 wickets fell on the day, which was the second-most on the opening day of any Test in history. The record for the most wickets on Day 1 of a Test match is held by Australia and England, where 25 wickets fell in Melbourne in 1902.

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#4 First ever instance of 7 players scoring zero runs in a Test innings

South Africa v India - 2nd Test

After gaining an early first-innings lead, Team India were seemingly in a comfortable position but lost their last 6 wickets in dramatic fashion on Day 1. From being 153/4, they were bundled out on the same score as six of their batters were dismissed for a duck.

It all started with Yashasvi Jaiswal getting out for a duck off Kagiso Rabada's bowling. India were 110/3 at one point before South Africa fought back into the match.

Shreyas Iyer nicked one to the wicketkeeper to be dismissed on zero, while extra bounce caught Ravindra Jadeja (0) and Jasprit Bumrah (0) off guard.

The last two individuals to get out for a duck were Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna. Mukesh Kumar remained unbeaten on zero. Including Mukesh's 0*, seven Indian players failed to score a single run which has never happened before in a Test match.

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#5 Lowest team total vs India in Tests

South Africa v India - 2nd Test

Another record that was created in the match was of a team registering its lowest-ever total against India in a Test match.

South Africa managed to score just 55 runs in their first innings, which is the least by any team against India in their 92-year history. The unwanted record was previously held by New Zealand, who registered only 62 runs in their first innings in Mumbai in 2021.