Ind vs SA day two session by session: Pacers star on roller-coaster day

South Africa looked set to dominate Day two of the first Test against India at the Wanderers but then India’s seamers led by Ishant Sharma helped the visitors come rushing back into the match. In the morning session, Philander’s 6-4-6-3 spell saw him run through the Indian batting line-up and then the batsmen did enough to ensure that the home side maintained it’s advantage doing into tea. At tea, SA were 118-1 after 35 overs. Smith has 62 and Amla has 30. After tea, we saw another collapse. South Africa lost 5 wickets for 16 runs and were reduced to 146-6. Then, Philander stepped up again – scoring a vital unbeaten 48 and putting on an unbroken 67-run partnership with Faf du Plessis (17 not out). At stumps, SA had made their way to 213 for 6, trailing by just 67 runs. Morning session (23 overs, 47 runs, 5 wickets) This is exactly what we had expected on Day 1 of the first Test at the Wanderers. Instead, it happened on Day 2. India lost their last 5 wickets for 16 runs in 4.1 overs this morning to get bowled out for 280. In reply, SA made their way to 22-0 after 10 overs. There were a few appeals against the SA openers but nothing to alarm the dressing room greatly. Starting the day on 255-5, India never really managed to get away. The first nine overs, yielded just 8 runs. The pressure piled on Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ajinkya Rahane. Overnight rain meant that the bowlers were getting more assistance from the wicket and they made the most of it. More importantly perhaps, they made a change in the lines they were bowling too. Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel made the batsmen play a lot more and suddenly batting seemed to be a dangerous proposition. [caption id=“attachment_1296699” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Philander’s spell was simply superb. AP[/caption] First wicket to fall was Dhoni. Philander drew him into the shot and got the edge through the keeper. A few ball later, Ajinkya Rahane fell prey to Philander – that man again. Zaheer Khan fell next ball to give Philander a chance of a hat-trick but the edge from Ishant Sharma didn’t carry. But the end was near. Ashwin hit a lovely back foot drive for four but the other batsmen didn’t have much to say. Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami were also dismissed for ducks. In 13 overs during the first hour, India made 25 runs and lost 5 wickets. The man of the hour was definitely Philander. His spell was an amazing 6-4-6-3. The pre-lunch session saw 23 overs being bowled, 47 runs were scored and 5 Indian wickets fell. Post-lunch session (25 overs, 96 runs, 1 wicket) India’s longest partnership was 89 runs between Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara but South Africa have already managed to put together two partnerships that have pushed India into a corner. The opening partnership between Alviro Petersen and Graeme Smith was 37 off 80 balls. It took the shine off the ball and generally blunted India’s new ball attack. When Ishant Sharma finally got the breakthrough by trapping Petersen lbw, there was a hope that one wicket might lead to another but that just didn’t happen. Hashim Amla came in and settled right away. But India did give the SA skipper a life. Smith was let off by Ashwin on first slip when he was on 19. Zaheer Khan was the bowler, the ball moved away from the left-hander, took the edge and flew towards first slip. It was low but Ashwin got his hands under it and he should have held on. Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and others surely would have. But it was a life and Smith made India pay for it by making his way to another half-century – his 38th in Test cricket. Amla, on the other hand, looked solid. The duo have already put on 81 off 133 balls. India’s bowlers bowled some wicket-taking deliveries but on the whole they weren’t consistent enough. There was the odd edge but there were enough loose deliveries for SA to take advantage of. At tea, SA were 118-1 after 35 overs. Smith has 62 and Amla has 30. Post-tea session (31 overs, 95 runs, 5 wickets) Just when everyone was thinking that South Africa were about to send India on a leather hunt, Hashim Amla decided to shoulder arms to an Ishant Sharma delivery. He expected the ball to bounce over the stumps – we had seen it happen a couple of times before – but this time, it didn’t. The ball crashed into the top of off-stump and India had the window of opportunity it was so desperately looking for. Then something strange happened. W W . . . . | . . W . . . | . . . 3 2 . | 2 . . 2 2 . | . . . . . . | . . 4 . . . | W 1 W It’s not morse code. Simply put: 41 balls, 16 runs, 5 wickets. Ishant got Kallis immediately. The right-hander seemed a little slow and he was trapped lbw. The batting great has been having a torrid time this year – averaging just 16. Compared to his form this year, he averaged 67 in 2012. So it has been a steep fall. In the next over, Smith over-balanced while trying to flick an over-pitched delivery from Zaheer and he was walking back after a gritty 68. Four overs passed without another wicket. Everyone thought the worst had passed. Dhoni got Shami back into the attack and responded with a two wicket burst – two wickets in three balls. Just like that – South Africa were six wickets down with Du Plessis as the only remaining regular batsman. But Philander decided he wanted the day’s honours. Du Plessis shut shop but Philander played his shots and put India under pressure. The lead was slowly whittled down to just 67 runs. India could have got another wicket but Rohit Sharma, with just two and a half overs left in the days play, dropped a sitter at second slip to give Du Plessis a life on 17. It was India’s second dropped catch of the day and it might come back to haunt them on Day 3. And given how they’ve fought in this match, that would be a pity.