Indian bowlers have kept the side alive in the third Test against South Africa after getting the hosts all out for 194 on Day Two at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
Jasprit Bumrah led from the front to bag a maiden five-for as India conceded a 7-run lead to not allow Faf du Plessis’ side to run away on a pitch that once again assisted the pacers. For South Africa, Hashim Amla played a superb innings, scoring 61 runs and shared two crucial partnerships with Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander. India ended the day at 49/1 to take a 42-run lead with Murali Vijay and KL Rahul at the crease.
Stumps Day 2 #SAvIND #FreedomSeries #ProteaFire pic.twitter.com/6QqDRJWqmf
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) January 25, 2018
The visitors lost the wicket of Parthiv Patel (16), who was promoted up the order and he played a little cameo hitting three boundaries before seeing the ball hit his bat on to the pads and Aiden Markram taking an exceptional catch at slips. Murali Vijay was very watchful and was focused on leaving the ball outside the off-stump this time around. He and Rahul played with some gusto from there on and got the score ticking.
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Rahul hit two good cover drives and looked organised in his approach. The duo added 32 runs for the 2nd wicket. India will look to get something out of their batting on Day Three and put the Proteas in pressure from there on.
Earlier, commencing at an overnight score of 7/1, India sent opener Dean Elgar (4) early on with Bhuvneshwar Kumar leading the way once again forcing him to fend at the wicket-keeper. Hashim Amla came in next and built the innings with Kagiso Rabada. The duo batted sensibly as Rabada got into the groove and hung around for a long time. He scored 30 runs and smashed six boundaries to once again frustrate the Indian bowlers.
The duo added 76 runs for the third wicket as Amla batted with a lot of character. He looked assured at the crease and built his focus to negotiate against the Indian pacers. Rabada too played some good shots hitting Mohammed Shami and Bumrah for boundaries and kept growing in confidence. He batted nearly for the entire first session and received a standing ovation after getting out of Ishant Sharma’s bowling.
| Runs | Balls | 4/6 | S/R | |
| Kagiso Rabada | 30 | 84 | 6/0 | 35.71 |
| Hashim Amla | 61 | 121 | 7/0 | 50.41 |
| V Philander | 35 | 55 | 5/0 | 63.64 |
After lunch India were right on the money as Bhuvi got a late in-swinging delivery to get the dangerous AB de Villiers (8). He has looking to play the on drive but the ball hit the stumps instead. Faf du Plessis was the next to follow and Bumrah’s delivery seamed back and clipped the top of off stump, and later had Quinton de Kock edging to Parthiv Patel.
| Overs | Maiden | Runs | Wickets | |
| B Kumar | 19 | 9 | 44 | 3 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 18.5 | 2 | 54 | 5 |
| Ishant Sharma | 14 | 2 | 33 | 2 |
Vernon Philander came in at a time when the Proteas were reeling at 125/6 and forged a substantial partnership with Amla. The latter kept playing some gorgeous shots across the off-side with Philander keeping the bowlers at bay. Amla got to his 37th Test fifty with a single and moments later was holed at deep square-leg despite timing the ball well off Bumrah’s bowling. Philander followed suit soon but by then he had played a solid hand of 35 runs.
Morne Morkel and Aidel Phehlukwayo ensured from there on the Proteas got a lead, but Virat Kohli ended up as a happy captain seeing his bowlers once again pick 10 wickets.
That's a wrap to the South Africa Innings. South Africa 194 all out. H Amla 61, B Kumar 3/44, J Bumrah 5/54. South Africa lead by 7 runs. #TeamIndia innings in a bit #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/uGwXvlLDDV
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 25, 2018
Bumrah stated after the day’s play that it was a total new experience for him. “It was always my dream to play Tests cricket and to get my first five-wicket haul. And to contribute to team’s success. This is a total new experience for me,” said the fast bowler.
