Pujara, Kohli smash SA into submission

At stumps on day three of the first Test against South Africa, India reached 282-2 after 78 overs. An overall lead of 320 runs with 8 wickets remaining. Pujara with an unbeaten 135 and Kohli, 77 not out, are at the crease for India. India dominated the day from the beginning with the bowlers wrapping up the SA tail in quick time in the morning session and then the batsmen simply piled on the agony for a Morne Morkel-less South Africa. Morning session Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan took four wickets apiece to bowl out South Africa for 244 to give India a vital lead of 36. In reply, India made their way to 31-1 after 14 overs. Shikhar Dhawan was the only wicket to fall even as Murali Vijay (12 off 42) and Chesteshwar Pujara (4 off 21) left the ball well. India’s overall lead is upto 67 with 9 second innings wickets in hand. South Africa began the day on 213-6 and Vernon Philander got to his fifty with the first ball he faced. Luckily for India, he didn’t last too long. Zaheer got his length and Ashwin held on to his sharp chance at first slip. It was just outside off and Philander (59) had to play at it. The edge carried to Ashwin’s right and he took it well. Steyn was the next to go. Ishant got one to rear up awkwardly from a good length and Steyn could only poke at it. Du Plessis was gone next as the SA tail didn’t wag. Given India’s record against the opposition lower order, this clean up was welcome. The wicket does seem to be quicker today and the Indian batsmen won’t have it easy. The Indian team needed just 9.3 overs to take the four wicket but SA managed to add 31 runs to the total too. At this stage, both sides are even and the Test is all set to be a cracker. Post-lunch session This session belonged to India primarily because of their approach. With Morne Morkel off the field, Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay chose to grind the SA attack to bits. They didn’t score runs – that didn’t seem to be their prime concern… staying in the middle was. And to that end, they succeeded. India lost Vijay, after he edged one down the leg side off Kallis, but he has done the job that the team would have wanted him to. His 39 came off 94 balls and with SA a bowler short – it severely tested the resources of the bowling team. [caption id=“attachment_1299659” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Pujara and Kohli have been splendid. AP[/caption] Pujara, at the other end, was as placid as you have ever seen him – at one stage, he had 6-50 balls. He livened up a little as the bowlers tired to work his way to 39 off 107 balls. He started making the bowlers bowl to him and that is solid. This is how the best Test batsmen do it. Virat Kohli made his way to 6 and if anything gave away SA’s desperation, it was the sight of AB De Villiers taking off the keeping pads to bowl the last over before the break. In the 26-over session, India made 78 runs and lost just 1 wicket. As things stand, this is now India’s match to lose. Post-tea session In the final session of the day, India shifted into higher gear. In the slightly extended 38-over session, Pujara and Kohli added 175 runs at 4.61 runs per over. South Africa were behind the over rate, a bowler short and the sun was out. But let’s take nothing away from the batsmen. Pujara, who began slowly, raised the tempo and South Africa simply had no answer for his controlled aggression. Tahir could have sent back the right-hander (on 51) back to the pavilion but he failed to hold on to a catch off his own bowling. It really came back to haunt them. Pujara went on from strength to strength and by the end of the day, he wasn’t just accumulating runs – he was scoring them at a very rapid pace. He scored 7 off the first 51 balls he faced and by the end of the day, he had 135 off 221 balls – basically put after his slow start, he scored 128 runs in 170 balls and that is pretty quick. Kohli was very solid at the other end. The first innings century has given him confidence but he seemed content to work his way into this innings. He wasn’t on the attack from the word ‘go’ and the resulting 191-run partnership (off 268 balls) with Pujara has simply allowed India to bat South Africa out of the match. Steyn has had another off day and not made much of an impact. India, though, aren’t complaining. Rather, they’ve taken surprising steps towards procuring India’s third Test win in South Africa.