SA vs IND | 3rd Test | Day 2: Onus on batters after Indian pacers turn fortunes in first innings

The Indian fast bowling unit has become a lethal force especially in Test cricket and the pacers, especially Jasprit Bumrah once again showed why they are so dangerous. South Africa, in the first innings of the third Test, were looking pretty steady to compile a good total but it was first Mohammed Shami and then Bumrah who put a halt in their scoring rate. 

The hosts had lost four wickets at 112 runs but Temba Bavuma and Keegan Petersen got into the act to provide the resistance with a 47-run stand. But the tables certainly turned when Shami got the ball in the 56th over where he took just three deliveries to send Bavuma and then Kyle Verreynne packing. 

Petersen who tried to hold the fort at one end was then joined by Marco Jansen but the latter wasn’t really able to chip in many runs as he was cleaned up by Bumrah for 7. 

Petersen was eventually dismissed by Bumrah for 72, reducing the Proteas to 179/8. The tailenders did some good for the Proteas, aggregating 31 runs for the last two wickets, but couldn’t prevent India from taking the first innings lead as the home side was bundled out for 210. India took a lead of 13 runs. 

Indian pacers rattle South Africa

The hosts were at one stage cruising towards a total that could have given them a healthy lead but it was total brilliance from Bumrah and Shami who not only restricted the opponent from capitalising on the partnership between Bavuma and Petersen but also scalped wickets at crucial junctions. 

Both Shami and Bumrah bowled in the areas that rigorously asked questions from the batters. While Shami pushed South Africa on the back foot with two wickets in the same over, Bumrah’s lethal pacer was enough to help him pick up a fifer in the innings. 

The right-arm bowler had already scalped the wickets of Elgar, Markram and Jansen before he removed a well-settled Petersen with a length delivery that took the outside edge of the batsman’s bat and went to Pujara in the slips. Petersen could only stand in disbelief but he had to take the long walk back. 

Bumrah eventually completed his five-wicket haul with Ngidi’s dismissal after the tail-enders frustrated the Indian bowlers a bit. 

Keegan Petersen’s determination

Despite the Indian bowlers asking tough questions with almost every delivery that they bowled, Keegan Petersen’s determination was stout. He faced 166 deliveries during the course of his 72 run inning and made the Indian bowlers work hard for his wicket.

While he was cautious enough, Petersen did gather runs on the bad deliveries that came his way. In fact, the disappointment that he showed after getting dismissed for 72 and the way he walked back in the hut showed how focused he was while batting in the middle. 

Onus back on Kohli, Pujara, Rahane

The pace bowling attack of both the teams has utilised the help from the wicket. While the Indian bowlers unleashed a good show, the South Africans didn’t sit back either.  

While Rabada removed Mayank Agarwal, Jansen got rid of KL Rahul and the onus of putting up a fighting total is now on Kohli, Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. Both Kohli and Pujara have been among runs in this match, and thus it would now be a test for Rahane. The team management would want him to get some runs under his belt.

India ended the day’s proceedings at 57/2 and lead by 70.