Neil Brand has been highly impressive against New Zealand in South Africa’s opening Test against New Zealand at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.
Brand made his Test debut against the Black Caps, and he was given the tough task of leading the Proteas in the absence of Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram.
The 27-year-old Brand finished with figures of 26-1-119-6 after the visiting team opted to field first on an excellent pitch to bat on.
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Brand picked up the wickets of Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry and opposition skipper Tim Southee.
Despite his terrific spell, the Kiwis ended up scoring 511 in 144 overs. However, Brand conjured praise from the cricket fraternity for bowling with a lot of heart.
In the first Test, South Africa are currently trailing by 431 runs with six wickets left in their first innings.
Neil Brand takes down multiple records
With his spell, Brand broke a number of records. He recorded the best bowling figures in Test cricket on debut, breaking a 24-year-old record. Back in 2020, Bangladesh’s Naimur Rahman Durjoy set the record against India at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.
Earlier, Brand also made history by recording the best bowling figures by a South African spinner on his Test debut. He broke the record of Clive Berrange van Ryneveld, who had figures of 17-8-37-2 against Australia at the Kingsmead in Durban back in 1958.
Brand became the first South African captain in 23 years to pick up 5 wickets or more in an innings in Test cricket. The last Proteas cricketer to achieve the feat was Shaun Pollock, who had figures of 21.4-6-56-6 against India in Bloemfontein back in November 2001.
Pollock also holds the record for the best bowling figures in Test cricket by a South African. He bowled a spell of 13.4-6-30-6 against Sri Lanka back in January 2001 at the Newlands in Cape Town. Brand is fourth in the list of best figures by a Proteas captain in Tests.
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