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India vs South Africa, 2nd Test, Day 1 in Centurion, latest updates: Maharaj ducks to short balls off the first two deliveries of the final over of Day 1, with the first one being called a no-ball. The tail-ender deflects the ball towards short fine for a single off the second legal delivery. Three runs collected off the final over of the opening day, with the game pretty much in balance as the game moves to the second day. The final session helped bring India back into the game, with four wickets falling in it for 87 runs. Preview: India will aim to bounce back after their defeat in the opening Test against South Africa when the second match of the starts at the SuperSport Park on Saturday with the focus on its batsmen. The hosts bundled out India for 209 and 135 in the two innings, registering a 72-run victory at Newlands, Cape Town. Though the visiting bowlers thrived on the lively pitch, the technique and approach of the batsmen was questioned as they failed to chase down a target of 208. India would have suffered more embarrassment if all-rounder Hardik Pandya had not come up with an audacious 93 in the first innings. But such counter-attacking and full-of-risk knock does not not pay off always and captain Virat Kohli and chief coach Ravi Shastri know that. [caption id=“attachment_4300845” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
File image of South African skipper Faf du Plessis and Indian captain Virat Kohli. AFP[/caption] Bounce, seam and swing were all there to see at Newlands and SuperSport Park is expected to be no less lively. The hosts have not lost at this venue since 2014. South Africa head coach Otis Gibson has already expressed his desire to stick with a four-pronged pace attack. The hosts went into the Newlands Test with their strongest quartet of seamers – Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada. Veteran Steyn injured his left heel midway through the match and has been sidelined for four to six weeks. One of all-rounders Chris Morris and Andile Phehlukwayo is most likely to be included in place of Steyn to strengthen their batting which din’t perform on expected lines. Rookie pacers Duanne Olivier and Lungi Ngidi have been added to the squad and skipper Faf du Plessis may be lured into fielding either of them. Keshav Maharaj will be the lone spinner in the team. To stand up to the pacers, Indian batsmen have a lot of areas to improve upon. The conditions are far different from that of the sub-continent and India didn’t even play a warm-up game prior to the first Test. Having experienced the conditions in the first Test, the Indian batsmen will be hopeful of giving a better account of themselves. Some of them played reckless shots – which would have worked on a slow pitch – in the first Test and coming into the second game, they would have got a measure of the task ahead. India’s team is full of stroke-makers like Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya. Their attitude of dominating the bowlers with a flurry of strokes will not work. Instead they must harness the art of controlling the pace quartet. They must curtail their habit of going after the deliveries. Calls for the inclusion of Ajinkya Rahane, known for his quiet approach, instead of fellow Mumbaikar Rohit Sharma have grown over the few days. It will not be a surprise if one of Dhawan or Rohit sit out, while Karnataka right-hander KL Rahul – a stroke-maker but with a judicious batting approach – may find himself in the openers’ slot. Though the less flamboyant ones, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara also failed, they are trusted to in these conditions, especially the dogged Saurashtra right-hander. If Kohli wins the toss, opting to bowl will be obvious option. Doing so will not only shield the batsmen from the early onslaught of the hosts’ pacemen but also allow the visiting bowlers to run into the opposition with full steam. Seamers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya, alongwith lone spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bundled out the hosts for 130 in the second innings at Newlands. South Africa will depend upon Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis to score the bulk of runs. Squads: India: Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Parthiv Patel, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul. South Africa: Faf du Plessis (Captain), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock (wicket-keeper), AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada. Duanne Olivier, Lungi Ngidi. With inputs from IANS
Highlights, India vs South Africa, 2nd Test, Day 1 at Centurion, Full Cricket Score: IND claw back with 4 wickets in 3rd session
Maharaj ducks to short balls off the first two deliveries of the final over of Day 1, with the first one being called a no-ball. The tail-ender deflects the ball towards short fine for a single off the second legal delivery. Three runs collected off the final over of the opening day, with the game pretty much in balance as the game moves to the second day. The final session helped bring India back into the game, with four wickets falling in it for 87 runs.
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India v South Africa, 2nd Test, Day-1:
1st session: 78/0 (27 overs)
2nd session: 104/2 (29 overs)
3rd session : 87/4 (34 overs)
Crowd stacking beer cups… And singing Ole Ole… They have had fun. Even if the cricket has only livened up in the last session. Sunday crowd tomorrow…!!
After 90 overs,South Africa 269/6 ( Faf du Plessis (C) 24 , Keshav Maharaj 10)
Maharaj ducks to short balls off the first two deliveries of the final over of Day 1, with the first one being called a no-ball. The tail-ender deflects the ball towards short fine for a single off the second legal delivery. Three runs collected off the final over of the opening day, with the game pretty much in balance as the game moves to the second day. The final session helped bring India back into the game, with four wickets falling in it for 87 runs.
Crowd stacking beer cups… And singing Ole Ole… They have had fun. Even if the cricket has only livened up in the last session. Sunday crowd tomorrow…!!
After 89 overs,South Africa 266/6 ( Faf du Plessis (C) 24 , Keshav Maharaj 9)
Ishant is brought back into the attack for the penultimate over of the day to get a shot at the new ball and hopefully orchestrate the seventh South African dismissal. Ends up walking away with a maiden, as du Plessis remains stout in his defence.
After 88 overs,South Africa 266/6 ( Faf du Plessis (C) 24 , Keshav Maharaj 9)
Four runs collected off Ashwin’s 31st over, with substitute fielder Jadeja misjudging the path of the ball after a pull by Maharaj. Appeal for a catch off the penultimate ball, though the umpire appears to consider it as a deflection off his pad.
After 87 overs,South Africa 262/6 ( Faf du Plessis (C) 24 , Keshav Maharaj 5)
Bumrah returns to the attack in the 87th over, with the second new ball being taken after the first two deliveries. Appeal for lbw off the penultimate ball, though it looked as if the ball would’ve missed the top of leg. Two singles are all that are collected off the over.
After 86 overs,South Africa 260/6 ( Faf du Plessis (C) 23 , Keshav Maharaj 4)
Maharaj gets an inside-edge off the fourth delivery of Ashwin’s 30th over, with the ball landing just short of leg slip. Eighth maiden for Ashwin, with the Indians sniffing another wicket right now with another four overs to go in the day’s play.
After 85 overs,South Africa 260/6 ( Faf du Plessis (C) 23 , Keshav Maharaj 4)
The second delivery of Pandya’s 14th over beats du Plessis’ defence completely. The all-rounder changes angles in the fourth delivery, though he bowls a fuller delivery outside off off the penultimate delivery that is smacked away through the covers for a boundary. Four off the over.
After 84 overs,South Africa 256/6 ( Faf du Plessis (C) 19 , Keshav Maharaj 4)
Ashwin bowls the 29th over, with the Indians suddenly pulling the momentum in their favour. Du Plessis collects a single off the first ball, with new batsman Maharaj driving the ball off the penultimate delivery down the ground to get off the mark.
After 83 overs,South Africa 251/6 ( Faf du Plessis (C) 18 , )
Pandya continues with the old ball, bowling around the wicket in this over. Philander nearly gets caught after lobbing the ball of the last delivery up in the air towards the keeper. But he ends up throwing his wicket away nevertheless, as he ignores du Plessis’ call to stay at his crease, and leaves the striker’s end deserted. Another duck, and the Proteas suddenly are in pressure having lost their sixth wicket.
OUT! Comical scenes at the SuperSport park right now! Philander sets off for the non-striker’s end after lobbing the ball up off his glove, and is greeted by a perplexed-looking du Plessis as the bails are dislodged at the other end. SA 251/6
Philander run out (Patel) 0(6)
After 82 overs,South Africa 250/5 ( Faf du Plessis (C) 17 , Vernon Philander 0)
Ashwin continues from the other end, with de Kock getting a thick edge to Kohli at slip to depart for a golden duck. Vernon Philander walks out, and blocks the remaining deliveries, with Ashwin collecting a wicket-maiden. The Indians right back in the game at the moment.
Most times dismissed run-out for South Africa in Tests:
7 – John Waite
6 – Jacques Kallis, Jackie McGlew, HASHIM AMLA*
OUT! Quinton de Kock departs for a golden duck! Third wicket for Ashwin, as the SA keeper-batsman gets a thick edge while looking to guide the ball towards the off-side, with the Indian captain taking a sharp catch in the slips! SA 250/5
De Kock c Kohli b Ashwin 0(1)
After 81 overs,South Africa 250/4 ( Faf du Plessis (C) 17 , Quinton de Kock (W) 0)
Pandya continues bowling with the old ball from the other end, with Kohli delaying the use of the second new ball. Staggered shout for lbw by Pandya off the third ball, though the ball seemed to have struck du Plessis well over his front pad. The all-rounder effects the fourth dismissal of the innings, and a big one indeed, as a direct hit at the non-striker’s end catches Amla short of his crease after the latter was late in his response to Faf’s call for a single. The SA captain opens the face of his bat to guide the ball towards the third man fence off the very next delivery.
OUT! A bit of a mix-up between Amla and du Plessis results in an unlikely dismissal for the former! Amla responded to Faf’s call for a single late, and Pandya was brilliant in his collect-and-throw, catching the No 3 batsman short of his crease. SA 246/4
Amla run out (Pandya) 82(153)
After 80 overs,South Africa 245/3 ( Hashim Amla 82 , Faf du Plessis (C) 12)
Du Plessis runs the ball down the ground for a single after three dots in the 80th over. Amla keeps the scorecard ticking with a single off an on-drive next ball. The SA captain retains strike for the following over, with three coming off it. The second new ball’s now available for the Indians.
After 79 overs,South Africa 242/3 ( Hashim Amla 81 , Faf du Plessis (C) 10)
Pandya continues from the other end, and fires a knuckle ball at Amla off the second delivery, which the batsman deflects towards mid-on off an inside-edge. Just two off the over, with an over to go before the second new ball becomes available for the Indians.
After 78 overs,South Africa 240/3 ( Hashim Amla 80 , Faf du Plessis (C) 9)
Ashwin returns to the attack in the 78th over, and switches back to his round-the-wicket angle while bowling to du Plessis from the third delivery onwards. Just one off the over, with Amla batting on 80 at the end of it.