If the second day was about India’s ability to counter punches, Wednesday saw South Africa’s resilience and desperation after a challenging 240-run set to level the series.
Achievement: , as it happened
The pitch is difficult to bat on, has variable bounce, and the Indian pace attack has the means to run through the sides. Also add the clever Ravichandran Ashwin, who loves bounce on the track.
South Africa’s batting also lacks AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla or Faf du Plessis, who are professionals to deal with adversity. Most of the players are still learning their ropes in Test cricket under a courageous captain Dean Algary,
Ashwin said that on the second day, Elgar will try to get out all the time and not get out and that is the beauty of his game. The left-handed batsman did exactly that while batting for three hours on Wednesday. His body was hit many times by Indian fast bowlers, played and missed, but showed the courage to fight. Knowing that his wicket was the center of this intriguing play, he was ready to go behind the line and take those blows to keep the Proteas in the game.
While his opening partner Aiden Markram (31) looked good for a long time, the young Keegan Peterson (28) Looked like a more dangerous player who could snatch the game from India. But Ashwin gave him a turn from leg-before at a crucial moment that put South Africa under pressure.
number 4 Rassi van der HusseinPoor technique against spin caused a lot of laughs among India’s close fielders, but the right-handed batsman somehow found a way to frustrate the Indian bowlers. However, South Africa was helped by the fact that mohammed siraji, who pulled a hamstring on day one was not at his fittest. The four overs he bowled were more about India’s frustration that it was actually threatening a wicket for not giving South Africa a psychological edge. From stumps, Elgar (46 batting) and Van der Dussen (11 batting) took South Africa to 118-2, two shy of the halfway mark.
South Africa, however, could have chased down a much smaller target. Ajinkya Rahane (58) and Cheteshwar Pujara (53) Did not make a great counterattack in the morning session. He was not intimidated by the short ball or the fact that his career could be on the line and he scored 111 for the third wicket, which put India on solid ground.
Both got out fast, but the Indian tail doesn’t give up without a fight these days. Whereas Hanuma Vihari (number 40) dealt quite calmly with South African fast bowlers, like Shardul Thakur And Jasprit Bumrah All were fighting fire with fire. He didn’t shy away from picking up the short ball or getting into a verbal spat with the left-arm pacer marco jensen Who were targeting Bumrah’s body.
Tensions are set to escalate in the fourth day of action as India goes on the rampage and South Africa tries to secure its shores from this all-powerful invasion.
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