India vs South Africa, 2nd Test, Day 2 Highlights: India 85/2 at Stumps

India 85/2 after 20 overs And that's stumps as Rahane and Pujara added 41 runs at a good scoring rate in the last eight overs. It was Pujara, who quickly added runs in the closing overs while Rahane held on to the other end. India will resume Day 3 with a lead of 58 runs.

India 44/2 after 12 overs Another opener- Mayank departs! Mayank has been totally outplayed by Olivier's angling in delivery. Mayank clearly misread the the length delivery that nipped back in sharply, shouldered arms and cost him his wicket. 
Pujara and Rahane are on the crease. A do-or-die situation for the duo! Can they get India through and save their spots?

India 24/1 after 7 overs Marco Jansen sends Rahul to pavilion. Clearly, the Indian skipper is unhappy with the unpire's call. An angling in delivery from Jansen, Rahul finds an edge that goes sailing towards the second slip where Markram grabs it while diving forward. 
Pujara walks in for India and has a huge responsibility to shoulder. 

India 23/0 after 5 overs India are off to a steady start and the openers- Rahul and Mayank look promising with the bat. The duo has almost washed off the buffer runs and are aiming to drive India and get some runs on the board. 

Rahul and Mayank are at the crease. Rahul is on strike. Rabada will open the attack.

 

South Africa 229/10 after 79.4 overs Lord Shardul Thakur wraps up South Africa for 229 as the Indian pacer removed Jansen and Ngidi in the same over to become the first Indian to take a seven-wicket haul at Johannesburg in Test cricket. India now trail by 27 runs and the visitors would now be aiming some runs on the board in their second innings.Over to Rahul and Mayank to drive India in the second innings! 

South Africa 217/8 after 76 overs Bumrah knocks down Maharaj is a quick delivery that has rattled the stumps. Meanwhile, the Proteas have washed off the run pressure and have brought themselves in the lead now.

India vs South Africa, 2nd Test, Day 2, 2nd session The match is evenly poised between India and South Africa as the Proteas have scored 197 runs at the loss of seven wickets and are in a deficit of just 11 runs. The visitors continue to stay in contention courtesy of Shardul Thakur's maiden five-wicket haul. Half-centurion Temba Bavuma looked in fine touch before he was removed by Thakur on 51. Overall, the hosts gathered 89 runs from 25.2 overs at a run rate of 3.51. 

South Africa 177/6 after 66.3 overs OUT! Shardul Thakur takes his fifth wicket as he punishes Temba Bavuma for moving across. Bavuma, who just reached his half-century, lost his wicket while trying to glance it fine as he edges the ball to Rishabh Pant, who dives to his left and pluck the ball out.

South Africa 146/4 after 59 overs Verreynne and Bavuma provided the much-needed partnership as South Africa inches closer to India's first innings total of 202 runs. The duo has added 44 runs for the fifth wicket after the hosts were in trouble at one stage with two quick wickets by Shardul Thakur.

05:12 PM Shardul Thakur receives thundering applauses from former cricketers Vinod Kambi and Wasim Jaffer.

 

 

India vs South Africa, 2nd Test, Day 2, 1st session South African batters- Elgar and Peteresen did an absolute resolute batting to give India a tough time. In the opening session of play, South Africa amassed 67 runs in 26.4 overs at a run rate of 2.51. Shardul Thakur's golden arm came into play as the hosts lost three wickets. Indeed Thakur's spell brought India back into the game before the Lunch. 

South Africa 102/3 after 44 overs Shardul Thakur gets the prized wicket of Petersen whose catch was safely taken by Mayank Agarwal at second slip. Petersen gave away an outside edge on the ball that shaped away from him. 

South Africa 88/2 after 39 overs India finally get the breakthrough and again from the golden man- Shardul Thakur. The back of a length pitched outside off, the ball shaped away from Elgar and the resilient captain was tempted to play the shot and finds an edge. The ball was easily pocketed by Pant behind the stumps and the visitors break the 74-run partnership. 

South Africa 70/1 after 34 overs South Africa have slightly bettered their run-rate as it has gone slightly over 2 now. The visitors have deployed some change of bowling with Ashwin and Siraj  but to no avail. The stand between Elgar and Petersen has reached 50 runs and the duo has become frustrating for the Indians.  

South Africa 59/1 after 29 overs The Proteas reach have slowly and steadily reached the 50-run mark. The batting duo- Elgar and Petersen have shown utmost resilience in playing the balls that are close to their body. Short of the length deliveries from India's pace attack would offer them no good as the steep bounce makes the ball go over the stumps, thus eliminating the chances of lbw. KL Rahul's side badly looking for a breakthrough.

South Africa 47/1 after 24 overs The Proteas have stood tall against India's bowling line up leaving them in a desperate search for wickets. Elgar and Petersen's rock solid stand has left India in search for a breakthrough. Shami and Bumrah are giving nothing and are full on attack. India's search for a wicket continues! 

South Africa 35/1 after 19 overs South African batters- Elgar and Petersen spending some time to understand how the pace and bounce is on the offer during Day 2. Much like the opening day, the turf is offering some steep bounce- something that troubled the Indian batters. Shami is pitching the ball outside the off to Dean Elgar to tempt the Proteas skipper in playing with the horizontal bat and give an easy catch. 

> Good news for India as Mohammed Siraj is on the field on Day 2.

Indian Team undertaking the final minute preparations before the action on Day 2 of the Johannesburg Test.  

IND vs SA, 2nd Test, Day 1: Rahane, Pujara flop show continues as Indian middle-order disappoints again

As many as 11 wickets tumbled on the opening day of the ongoing second Test between India and South Africa at Johannesburg. The visitors led by their stand-in skipper KL Rahul had an underperformance with the bat where the senior players- Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane failed miserably. It can be said that South Africa found themselves in the driver's seat at The Wanderers Stadium on Monday. 

Rahul's patient 50-run knock on a day when India missed Virat Kohli due to back spasms and Ravichandran Ashwin's cavalier 46 at the rear end ensured that India scored 202 in their first innings on a bouncy Wanderers track.

At stumps, Mohammed Shami sent back Aiden Markram even as Dean Elgar (11 batting) and Keegan Peterson (14 batting) took South Africa to 35 for 1.

It could have been two down had Rishabh Pant snapped Peterson off Jasprit Bumrah, which seemed a regulation catch.