Simon Harmer replicates 50-year-old feat for a spinner with a match-turning spell against Pakistan
Playing Test matches after a couple of years for South Africa, veteran Simon Harmer gave a good account of himself, taking 13 wickets for the series against Pakistan on slow and turning tracks in Lahore and Rawalpindi. Harmer ended the series with figures of 6/50 as South Africa levelled it 1-1.
Simon Harmer was a class apart for South Africa, finishing with 13 wickets for the series, the most for the visitors in the two-match Test series against Pakistan, returning to the national fold after a couple of years. Harmer almost felt like an afterthought selection with Keshav Maharaj being unfit for the series opener, but the 36-year-old, with a few crucial wickets in Lahore made sure that he retained his spot and ended up achieving a few majore feats and milestones, finishing with eight wickets for the match in the decider in Rawalpindi.
Harmer's figures of 6/50 were the best by any South African spinner in Test cricket over 36 years of age, however, Claude Carter, aged 40, was the oldest spinner to take a 6-wicket haul for the Proteas, back in 1921, when he bowled a spell of 6/91 against Australia in Johannesburg. Harmer became the oldest South African spinner to achieve the feat in Pakistan and in Asia.
For any visiting spinner in Asia, Harmer replicated Lance Gibbs' feat of taking six-plus wickets. Gibbs had scalped 7/98 against India in the Mumbai Test in 1975, being 40 years old. Harmer, who came back from the Kolpak deal to be available for South Africa again, registered his career-best figures, playing his 12th Test, while achieving a huge milestone of 1,000 first-class wickets.
Harmer has 513 wickets against his name for Essex in County cricket and a few hundreds in domestic cricket in South Africa and at 36, the veteran off-spinner might have found a new lease of life, especially with the Proteas set to play four more Tests in the sub-continent in the new World Test Championship cycle. Harmer's new-found form alongside the two left-arm orthodox spin twins Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy will give a huge boost of confidence to South Africa before the embark on the Indian tour next month.
Being behind 71 runs in the second innings, Pakistan were under pressure from the start, having let South Africa off the hook with the bat in the first innings. Harmer was exceptional with his lines and lengths, especially to the two left-handers at the top and just kept getting wickets regularly to see Pakistan get bowled out for 138 in the second innings, before South Africa knocked off 68 runs without much discomfort to level the series.