IND vs SA: 2nd Test – Record-breaking Kohli puts India in command on Day 2
Virat Kohli’s marathon unbeaten knock put India firmly in command on Day 2 of the second Test against South Africa. People are now running out of superlatives to describe the brilliance of Kohli who registered the highest score of his Test career. He also brought up 7000 runs in Test cricket and combining with Ravindra Jadeja put the Proteas to the sword. The pair’s efforts and a handy contribution from Ajinkya Rahane allowed India to declare on a mammoth score of 601/5 on the board. By the end of the day, South Africa had their backs against the wall reeling at 36/3 after some brilliant work from the Indian pacers.
Check out the full scorecard here
Rahane, Kohli continue the good work
Kohli and Rahane were quite watchful at the start of the first session, leaving a lot of deliveries. Kohli soon started to assert his dominance with his trademark drives. Rahane too was much more fluent, brushing off the cobwebs from his batting on the final session on Day 1. He brought up his half-century, which was soon followed by Kohli completing his 26th Test ton. The two batters did not give an inch away, greatly demoralizing their opponents and finishing the session unblemished on 356/3.
Attack mode – Activated
Rahane would perish at the start of the second session from a brilliant delivery from Keshav Maharaj. The delivery would have given great hope to the Indians as there were real signs that the pitch was starting to gain some assistance for the tweakers. Jadeja then walked in and after an initial period of settling in, unleashed the carnage. In the second half of the post-lunch session, India slowly started to pick up the scoring rate, with a declaration looming large. Kohli was approaching the 7th double century of his career, crossing Bradman’s tally of runs in Test cricket.
After tea, India stared at the situation as a T20I game with Jadeja, in particular, unleashing some brutal hits. The milestones also started to tumble as Kohli reached his double and Jadeja brought up his 12th half-century, clearly enjoying his promotion up the batting order. Kohli was given a big reprieve, as he was dismissed by Muthusamy only for it to be adjudged a no-ball. After bringing up his highest score in Test cricket, the attention turned towards affording Jadeja an opportunity to bring up his second Test hundred. But going for another big hit, Jadeja was out for 91 and the Indian captain declared the innings.
South Africa under the cosh
With a big margin, India had all the tools to unleash a flurry of attacks on the Proteas. Umesh Yadav making a comeback was a man on a mission. In his first over, he trapped opener Aiden Markram plum in front of the stumps to leave the Indian tails up. He would strike again, dismissing the other opener with a quick delivery. Dean Elgar was unable to cope with the pace of the delivery, playing on to the stumps.
Mohammed Shami too continued his brilliant form from Vizag, managing to find the faintest of edges from Temba Bavuma’s bat. The umpire initially adjudged it to be not out, but the Indian camp was convinced and reviewed successfully. Ultra-edge spiked up to leave the Indian fielders in a delirious state. India tried to attack even more but Theunis de Bruyn and nightwatchman Anrich Nortje would manage to negotiate a tough period. South Africa were still in a state of trouble, ending the day on 36/3.
