Day 3, India vs SA: Elgar Leads Resistance in Chase of 240; SA 118/2 At Stumps
Catch all the latest updates from the third day of the second Test between India and South Africa.
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Chasing 240 to win and keep the Test series alive, South Africa’s captain Dean Elgar dropped anchor in the final session of Day 3, and kept India’s bowlers out.
India’s bowling attack led by Jasprit Bumrah only picked two wickets with Shardul Thakur and R Ashwin being the successful ones, removing opener Aiden Markram for 31 and then Keegan Petersen for 28, respectively.
At Stumps on Day 3, South Africa had Elgar unbeaten on 46 while Rassie van der Dussen, who survived a tricky phase against Ashwin, was not out on 11. The hosts need another 122 runs with two days to go in the contest and 8 wickets in hand.
India came into the Test with a 1-0 lead and a win in this game will see them clinch a series in South Africa for the first time ever.
Earlier in the day, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane got the Indians going with a fast start to the morning session, before Kagiso Rabada struck three telling blows. From then on in, SA’s bowlers kept India from getting away but the lower order with Hanuma Vihari holding forte at one end added more than 80 runs for the last 5 wickets, propelling the score to 266.
India started the day with the lead at 58 and it was Cheteshwar Pujara who started off with a couple of boundaries of Lungi Ngidi. Soon enough Ajinkya Rahane joined in the act too with a few sublime drives and the first six of the innings, going over point.
The batters made good use of the fact that SA’s bowlers had not started the session well and piled on the runs. India scored 63 runs in the first 12 overs of the day.
Pujara was the first to get to his half century before Rahane completed his. However, Rahane was the first to depart and Pujara followed suit soon after.
While Rahane was caught behind by Verreynne for 58, Pujara was trapped LBW for 53 with Rabada getting the breakthroughs.
Rabada had his tail up and India were dealt another body blow as he sent the flamboyant Rishabh Pant back to the hut for a duck. The ace pacer's three wickets had brought the hosts right back into the contest with Hanuma Vihari being joined by R Ashwin just before Lunch.
The duo added a few important runs with a stand of 17 runs before Ashwin was dismissed by Lungi Ngidi for 16, caught behind by Verreynne.
India took Lunch with the score at 188/6 and the lead at 161 with Hanuma Vihari and Shardul Thakur unbeaten on 6 and 4, respectively.
After Lunch, Vihari and Shardul continued in their merry ways with the all-rounder added some quick runs. Shardul scored 28 of 24, hitting five fours and a six before making his way back to the hut.
Soon after, Jansen had Shami's wicket for a duck as India's lead crossed the 200-run mark too.
In walked Jasprit Bumrah and soon enough was being riled up by Jansen, who peppered him with a few short ones. India however were picking up valuable runs with Vihari and Bumrah further frustrating SA's bowlers.
With only Mohammed Siraj for company, Hanuma Vihari started to play a few more shots in the afternoon, and propelled the Indian total to 266 before Siraj was the final wicket to fall.
India finished with a lead of 239, leaving SA a mountain to climb to keep the series alive. India's final five wickets added 82 runs.
In the half hour before Tea, Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram played positively to start of their second innings. SA took Tea with the score at 34/0.
Markram, who has been out of form so far, scored 24 not out in that period, playing some glorious shots and giving the hosts some hope of making the chase a productive one.
Markram could only add seven more to his score after Tea as India turned to Shardul Thakur, who provided the much needed breakthrough. The openers put on 47 runs as the Indian fielders began to up the noise around the wicket after the dismissal.
India's bowlers meanwhile have been beating the bat with regularity, not making life simple for the SA batters.
Petersen and Elgar have dug in and not only kept India's bowlers out, despite the pressure from the probing spells but also managed had the scoreboard moving at a fair pace.
By the time drinks were called on in the final session, SA were 152 runs short with 9 wickets in hand. Elgar and Petersen looked solid till then even though India's pacers were beating the edges fairly regularly.
Petersen and Elgar would go on to add 46 runs and just as the partnership was picking up some speed, causing concerns for the Indian team, R Ashwin found the breakthrough.
Ashwin, who's hardly bowled in this Test, trapped him LBW for 28 as India picked a second wicket. SA's score read 93/2 at the time and they had captain Elgar and new man Rassie Van der Dussen in the middle.
Elgar, who was resolute in his ways and determined to keep the bowlers out, took a Bumrah bouncer to the neck but was fine to continue after a short break.
The captain and van der Dussen were watchful in the final hour against an Indian attack that had also found variable bounce as a friend. Elgar would cop another blow from Shardul on the hand that would require medical attention.
The duo soldiered on towards close of play with the score at 118/2.
Recap
India started off the second Test having been dealt a big blow as the injured Virat Kohli was ruled out before the toss. KL Rahul took over and India batted first, scoring 202 in the first innings. South Africa’s batters then managed to put the hosts in a slender 27-run lead but only after Shardul Thakur had picked a record 7 wickets in the first innings.
Shardul was the destroyer in chief as SA could not get a big lead in a must win game. After Shardul’s heroics, SA struck twice before stumps on Day 2, removing the two openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal.
After that Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane then held forte and added some quick runs before stumps, taking the visitors to a 58-run lead before the third day’s play.
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