1st Test, Day 2: India on top after reaching 125/2 in second innings

Mohali: India reached 125/2 in their second innings at stumps to take a vital 142-run overall lead after bowling out South Africa for 184 runs in the first innings on the second day of the first Test here on Friday.

For the hosts, Cheteshwar Pujara (63 not out) and Virat Kohli (11 not out) were at the crease at the end of Day 2. Openers Murali Vijay (47) and Shikhar Dhawan (0) were the dismissed batsmen.

Earlier, off-spinner R Ashwin's five-wicket haul trumped AB de Villiers' gritty half-century as India grabbed a narrow 17-run lead after dismissing South Africa for 184 on Day 2 of the first cricket Test here today.

Wickets tumbled on the low and slow I S Bindra Stadium pitch as India lost Shikhar Dhawan, who collected his second duck of the game, early after the opener got caught at second slip off an angled Vernon Philander delivery.

de Villiers, who managed a fighting 83-ball 63, had raised hopes of his team overpowering India's first innings total of 201, but the Indian spin force did the trick.

Ashwin once again became the leader of the pack, bagging his 13th Test fifer to claim 150 wickets in his 29th match.

Ashwin (5-51), who had sent opener Stiaan van Zyl (5) back in the pavilion on the opening day, got the prized wickets of overnight batsmen Dean Elgar (37) and Hashim Amla (43) and followed it up by scalping Dane Vilas (1) and Imran Tahir (4).

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja also contributed with three wickets while Amit Mishra bagged two, including the all-important scalp of De Villiers.

With the visitors in trouble at 127 for five at lunch, Jadeja struck in the sixth over of the second session to send Philander (3) back in the pavilion with Ajinkya Rahane taking a sharp catch at first slip.

Though the umpire referred the decision upstairs, it was clear that the ball was legitimate and the catch clean.

The session then saw a 34-run seventh-wicket partnership before Simon Harmer (7) departed, trapped LBW off Mishra. The leg-spinner had another chance of getting a wicket a ball later but failed to take a return catch from new-man Dale Steyn's full-blooded hit.

After surviving a few anxious moments in the middle, De Villiers got into his own to hit six boundaries. The ODI skipper got to his 37th Test fifty with a whack off Jadeja in the mid-wicket region.

South Africa all out for 184, India take 1st innings lead of 17-run

India bowled out South Africa for 184 runs on second day of the first cricket Test here today.

Earlier, India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hoodwinked the South African top-order to bag 5 wickets. Spinner Amit Mishra cleaned up a dangerous looking AB de Villiers on 63 with a peach of a legbreak to to knock off stump.

South Africa (1st innings score card)

Dean Elgar c Jadeja b Ashwin 37
Stiaan van Zyl lbw b Ashwin 5
Faf du Plessis b Jadeja 0
Hashim Amla st Saha b Ashwin 43
AB de Villiers not out 26
Dane Vilas c Jadeja b Ashwin 1
Vernon Philander c A Rahane b R Jadeja 3

Simon Harmer lbw b A Mishra 7

Dale Steyn  st W Saha b R Jadeja 6

Kagiso Rabada not out 1

Imran Tahir c Pujara b Ashwin
Extras (b 6, lb 6, nb 1) 14
Total (10 wickets, 68 overs) 127

Fall of wickets: 1-9 (van Zyl, 6.4 overs), 2-9 (du Plessis, 8.2), 3-85 (Elgar, 37.4), 4-105 (Amla, 45.2), 5-107 (Vilas, 45.6), 136-6 (Vernon Philander, 54.3), 170-7 (Simon Harmer, 62.4), 179-8 (Dale Steyn, 65.5), 179-9 (AB de Villiers, 66.3), 184-10 (Imran Tahir, 67.6)

Bowling
Ravichandran Ashwin 24-51-5
Umesh Yadav 6-12-0
Varun Aaron 8-18-0
Ravindra Jadeja 18-55-3
Amit Mishra 12-35-2