India vs South Africa Match Live ScoreIndia vs South Africa 2nd Test Day 2 Live Score: Shardul Thakur’s knack of picking crucial wickets came in handy as his triple strike brought India back in the game, leaving South Africa at a jittery 102 for 4 going into lunch on day two of the second Test. Thakur (3/8 in 4.5 overs), the fourth seamer in the side, raised his game to remove the stodgy Dean Elgar (28 off 120 balls) and young Keegan Petersen (62 off 118 balls), who looked good en route his maiden half-century in Test cricket.
Then at the stroke of lunch dismissed Rassie van Der Dussen (1 off 17 balls) to a dubious catch from wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant which seemed to have been grassed. From 88 for 1, South Africa lost three wickets for 14 runs in the last half hour to just throw away the advantage. Although Jasprit Bumrah (0/26 in 13 overs) and Mohammed Shami (1/33 in 14 overs) bowled their hearts out without getting desired results, Thakur’s strikes at the fag end of the session was a big boost for KL Rahul’s men.
India Playing XI: KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj
South Africa Playing XI: Dean Elgar (c), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Verreynne (w), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Duanne Olivier and Lungi Ngidi
India's batsman Mohammed Shami, middle, successfully appeals for the dismissal of South Africa's Aiden Markram, during the first day of the 2nd Test Cricket match between South Africa and India at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Shami thinks Olivier is out LBW and convinces the skipper to go upstairs but it was going down the leg side and UltraEdge shows nothing as well. India get their review wrong. SA: 228/8
Boom! Brilliant from Jasprit Bumrah to bowl Keshav Maharaj and get his first wicket of the match. Bumrah breaks the stubborn 8th wicket stand. South Africa: 217/8, lead by 15 runs
Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj continue to add some crucial runs to the home team's tally and a couple of runs from Jansen in the last ball of the 73rd over means that the Proteas are into the lead. SA: 203/7 (Lead by 1 run)
FOUR as Marco Jansen punches it through the gap at cover-point. However, he is hit on the body on the next ball which is short by Shardul. He is in some pain as the physio comes out. SA: 195/7
Allahudein Paleker was at Mecca, just done with his pilgrimage to Haj in 2017, when he found out that he had been elevated to the ICC panel of umpires. He saw it as a sign and a blessing. He umpired in the ODIs, stood in India’s tour of South Africa in 2018, and now has made his debut as a Test umpire, 15 years after first taking up the profession.
Incidentally, his umpiring partner was Marias Erasmus, his mentor who had started him on the umpiring path a decade and a half ago. (MORE)
“Many people have that lazy opinion about Shardul,” L Balaji, Shardul Thakur’s bowling coach at Chennai Super Kings, says when it’s put across that Thakur has a happy knack of taking a wicket. Lazy?
“I also use it but what I am protesting against is the fact that sometimes people use it to suggest that he can get lucky with the wicket-taking balls. As if he hasn’t worked intelligently through a spell. As if he hasn’t bowled them deliberately. Let me tell you, he is a very intelligent bowler.”
That intelligence was seen in the five-wicket burst in a game-turning spell before and after lunch on day 2 at Johannesburg. (READ MORE)
Shardul Thakur grabbed his maiden five-wicket haul as South Africa lost the momentum towards the end of the afternoon session to reach 191/7 at Tea. Thakur (13.1-3-43-5) with his happy knack of breaking partnerships more than compensated for Mohammed Siraj's hamstring injury as Keegan Petersen (62 off 118 balls) and the in-form Temba Bavuma (51 off 60 balls) laid the platform only to fritter away a promising start. The only silver lining for Proteas is that they are now only 11 runs short of India's first innings total of 202...
Rabada (0) chips a Shami delivery straight to the man at mid-on. Among overseas venues only at Lord's (11) have Indian seamers picked more than five five-fers than they have at the Wanderers. SA: 179/7 after 67.3 overs
Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada are at the crease! South Africa still trails India by 23 runs with 4 wickets in hand! 13 overs for the second new ball!
Five wicket hauls for India at Wanderers:
6/53 A Kumble 1992/93
5/104 J Srinath 1996/97
5/40 S Sreesanth 2006/07
5/54 J Bumrah 2017/18
5/29 Mohd Shami 2017/18
5/37 S Thakur 2021/22
Three boundaries off five balls, and Temba Bavuma brings up his Test fifty! But he doesn't last long at the crease. Bavuma (51) tries to work one down the leg side but the edge is found | SA: 177/6 after 66.3 overs
The partnership is broken at last and who else but Shardul Thakur in the act as he traps Verreynne in front, and the review returns three reds. Huge moment in the game. SA: 162/5 after 65 overs
Kyle Verreynne and Temba Bavuma are doing a good job for the hosts as they bring up a 50-run partnership. SA: 153/4, still trail by 49 runs
What a straight drive by Temba Bavuma to Bumrah for 4. There seems to be a concerted attempt at bowling more at the stumps post-lunch. SA: 151/4 after 61 overs
India has been very tight in their bowling but Bavuma and Verreynne look pretty compact in their batting thus far. India need to break this partnership before it really gets going.
Big shout for LBW on Verreynne. On field decision is not out. India will review. Shami seemed pretty sure. Replays show there was an inside edge, so Verreynne survives. India lose a review.
Verreynne has really taken it to Thakur in this over. Barrage of fours in this over to steady the South Africa innings. South Africa 129/4. SA trail by 74 runs.
Thick outside edge for a four. Bavuma pushes at it away from his body and it ran away past gully. Shami is the victim of it. 6 off this over. 50 overs gone. South Africa 119/4.