India vs South Africa Match Live ScoreIndia vs South Africa 2nd Test Live Score: India resume action on the third day of the second Test at 85 for 2 in their second innings after dismissing South Africa for 229 the previous day. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane start at the crease on Wednesday, with India leading South Africa by 58 runs after KL Rahul (8) and Mayank Agarwal (23) were dismissed. India bowled out the hosts for 229 with Shardul Thakur picking up a maiden five-wicket haul. India had scored 202 in their first essay.
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
South Africa's batsman Temba Bavuma, front, reacts after being dismissed India's bowler Shardul Thakur, during the second day of the 2nd Test Cricket match between South Africa and India at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Kagiso Rabada has got Cheteshwar Pujara this time. The ball nipped back and crashes into Pujara's pads, the umpire raises his finger. Pujara reviews but three reds and he will have a long walk back to the pavilion. A great knock from India's No 3 but he is dismissed for 53. IND are 163/4 after 37 overs.
South Africa finally have their first wicket on Day 3. Kagiso Rabada removed Ajinkya Rahane with a peach of the delivery. The ball nips off from the back of a length, gets the outside edge of Rahane and Verreynne takes an easy catch behind stumps. The umpire took a while to get his finger up but there was no doubt in the minds of South Africa's fielders Rahane departs for a well-made 58. IND are 155/3 after 35 overs.
And that's fifty for Rahane, who brings it up with a boundary off Olivier. Rahane-Pujara partnership crosses 100. This is the sixth century stand between Pujara and Rahane in Test cricket. India have never lost a Test before today when these two shared a century stand.The South African bowlers are toiling hard to find the breakthrough. IND are 148/2 after 32 overs.
Cheteshwar Pujara brings up his 32nd Test half-century in 62 balls. Came in at a tough time, and he's done well to score runs at pace and peg the Protea bowlers back. He's looked to remain positive from the first ball he faced last evening. His fastest came against Australia at Delhi in 2013 - in 54 balls. IND are 137/2 after 30 overs.
32 runs have been scored in 6 overs this morning so far, and India's lead has raced to 90. Pujara and Rahane are taking this game away from SA at the rate of knots. IND are 117/2 after 27 overs.
Class from Rahane! A superb straight drive to the boundary, takes India past 100 total in the second innings. A fist bump as the two batsmen celebrate. IND are 101/2 after 23 overs.
Pujara continues to rack up the runs as he flicks Ngidi for two boundaries in the second over of the day. And that brings up 50-run partnership between Rahane and Pujara. This partnership run rate of 5.24 runs per over makes it the fastest 90 run partnership of Rahane's career & the second fastest of Pujara's career. With both players' careers on the line & India's away legacy in the balance - two modern greats have delivered. IND are 95/2 after 22 overs.
Day 3 in Johannesburg underway. Pujara and Rahane resume for India. Marco Jansen starts the attack for South Africa. IND are 87/2 after 21 overs.
South Africa skipper Dean Elgar and team manager Khomotso Masubelele met match officials during the lunch break on day two of the second Test to discuss a questionable caught behind dismissal of Rassie van der Dussen. ESPNcricinfo reported that Elgar and Masubelele wanted to discuss the dismissal with on field umpires Marais Erasmus and Allahudien Palekar, third umpire Adrian Holdstock and match referee Andy Pycroft.
Dhawal Kulkarni still remembers the advice Zaheer Khan had for a young Shardul Thakur. The former India left-arm pacer had told Thakur that if he had ambitions of playing at a higher level, he would have to reduce his weight and get fitter. The youngster took those words to heart. He was 83kg at that time, but had got 13kg lighter by the time he returned to the Mumbai dressing room a few months later, Kulkarni recalls.
“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 seven-wicket haul in game-turning spells on day 2 at Johannesburg.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the third day in Johannesburg as Team India resumes action against South Africa in the second Test. Stay tuned for live score and updates of the match right here.