Markram sets record with nine catches as South Africa crush India by 408 Runs

Aiden Markram carved his name into Test cricket history by taking a record nine catches as a non-wicketkeeper in South Africa’s commanding 408-run victory over India in the second Test at Guwahati.

The emphatic win secured a 2-0 clean sweep, giving South Africa their first Test series triumph on Indian soil in 25 years.

 The margin of defeat also marked India’s heaviest loss in Test cricket by runs, surpassing the previous 342-run defeat against Australia in 2004.

Markram’s brilliance in the slips overshadowed Ajinkya Rahane’s earlier record of eight catches in a Test, set in Galle in 2015. Picking up five catches in the first innings, Markram equalled the record for the most catches by a fielder in a single Test innings.

His catches included key dismissals of KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and further sharp efforts off the bowling of Marco Jansen and Simon Harmer.

In India’s second innings—where the hosts were set a monumental 549-run target—Markram added four more catches as India crumbled for just 140, sealing his total at nine.

South Africa had earlier won the first Test in Kolkata by 30 runs. The series victory makes captain Temba Bavuma only the second South African skipper, after Hansie Cronje, to lead a Test series win in India.