Day 2 of the second Test between India and South Africa has drawn to a close, and a day where India needed to seize the initiative to get back into the series has proved to be anything but.
South Africa, spearheaded by a magnificent patient century from Senuran Muthusamy and a blistering 93 from Marco Jansen, made serene progress towards a total of 489.
Resuming overnight on 247/6, the first session saw Muthusamy and Kyle Verreynne steadily work their way into the contest, who ended up with a partnership of 88 from just shy of 40 overs. The pace quickened after the first interval, where we saw some far more aggressive shots off Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav, but it was still very composed batting from the pair who gave away very little. One decision was reversed, Muthusamy getting a flicker of glove on an LBW shout, but for the most part India toiled in search of wickets.
When they eventually made the breakthrough, Marco Jansen came in and scored at an incredible rate, seemingly inspired by Travis Head’s heroics. His seven 6s punished any drag-downs, staying in his crease and calmly dispatching the ball into the leg-side. He managed to break three bats in the process, demonstrating the power he was operating with.
India did eventually manage to clean up the tail, Kuldeep Yadav with the best figures of 4-115. The sheer volume of bowling that India had to do will be a concern heading into South Africa’s second innings, with the premier pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Mo Siraj both bowling 30 or more overs. It was an excellent display of traditional Test match batting, where the batters preyed on the fatigue of the bowlers, having grinded themselves to a strong position.
Having to navigate six overs of batting, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul gave no real chance to the South African quicks, finishing the day 9-0. If they are to win this Test match, they will have to play an aggressive brand of batting tomorrow, potentially eclipsing the 489 of South Africa before delivering a brilliant bowling spell. Otherwise, South Africa will have succeeded in their goal of gathering at least a draw, to clinch the two Test series away from home against a brilliant opposition.
