At the end of the second day’s play, the Johannesburg Test match hangs in the balance. And that is largely due to an inspired performance by the Indian bowlers who dismissed South Africa for 194 and restricted the hosts’ lead to a miniscule seven runs – virtually cancelling out the first innings.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma were the two best bowlers on display, but it was Jasprit Bumrah who walked away as India’s most successful bowler. The Gujarat speedster, playing only his 3rd Test match, cleaned up the home team’s middle and lower order and collected his maiden 5-wicket haul in the format.
After beating the bat repeatedly in his first and second spells, the 24-year old collected two wickets in his third spell of six overs and added three more wickets in his fourth spell of 4.5 overs to eventually finish with impressive figures of 18.5-2-54-5.
The pace quartet hunted as a pack – with all the four specialist bowlers collecting at least a wicket each. On a pitch where run-scoring was an arduous task, Mohammed Shami struggled with discipline and gave away a few easy runs – though he picked up the wicket of Vernon Philander at a crucial juncture.
Importantly, the Indian pacers were ably supported in the field; not one opportunity went abegging in the field. Even Parthiv Patel, who copped flak for his poor glovework in the previous Test, had a field day and pulled off a few sharp catches and saves.
After dismissing the home side, the Indian batsmen had a tricky period of play to negotiate. With the pitch still providing plenty of lateral movement, and with just over an hour’s play left in the day, the hosts’ bowlers had the opportunity to steam in and bowl full tilt.
After Parthiv Patel’s cameo at the top was ended by a sharp catch by Aiden Markram at gully, India needed to see off the day without any further casualty. And Murali Vijay and KL Rahul saw the team through to stumps. Both batsmen were very focussed, judged the line and length quite well, and were very tight on technique.
Vijay and Rahul put a price on their wicket and did not go reaching for deliveries. The ‘leave alone’ or ‘shoulder arms’ was the most-used stroke; Vijay left alone 24 of the 49 balls he faced, while Rahul shouldered arms to 17 of the 38 balls he faced.
On Day III, the Indian camp will expect Vijay and Rahul to exert more of the discipline they showcased in the final session on Day II, and hope they can stitch together a big partnership and put the team in a position of strength.
Comment
Contrary to the popular view that India have their noses ahead at this stage, I actually believe the Test match is finely poised. Why? There’s a well-accepted theory to establish a team’s position of strength; add two more wickets to a team’s current score and see how it reads. If one were to apply that theory to India’s current score, then the Indian score wouldn’t make for pretty reading; 49-1 would read as 49-3, or even 49-4 on this surface, which certainly wouldn’t be a comfortable position.
(We Indians have much to talk about these days. But what would you tell India if you had the chance? Pick up the phone and write or record your Letter To India. Don’t be silent, tell her how you feel. Mail us your letter at lettertoindia@thequint.com. We’ll make sure India gets your message.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)