On the first day of the second Test against South Africa, the host were 35 for one at stumps in response to India‘s 202 all out. At the end of the day, Dean Elgar and Keegan Petersen were batting on 11 and 14, respectively.

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India added 56 runs for the loss of five wickets in the final session after reaching 146 for five at tea. The visitors’ best scorer was stand-in skipper K L Rahul (50), while R Ashwin (46) played an important knock towards the end of the innings. South Africa’s bowlers were led by left-arm pacer Marco Jansen (4/31) and included Duanne Olivier (3/64) and Kagiso Rabada (3/64) in finishing up the Indian innings.

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An injury scare might be looming over India’s bowling department as with just minutes left before Stumps, Siraj, bowling the final delivery of the 17th over, backed out midway and held on to his right hamstring. He immediately left the field with the physio. Earlier in the game, while Ashwin batted, his right fingers took a hit from one of Jansen’s deliveries.

Shami was able to get the ball to slide from a long distance into Markram, who attempted to defend but was whacked on the pads. He sought help from his skipper, who warned him against using the DRS. The captain’s decision was warranted, as replays show , Markram was well ahead of the line and he departed for 9.  

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Earlier, the Indian openers dominated the first hour of the first session, overcoming a difficult moment to get their team off to a strong start. Mayank Agarwal smashed boundaries, while Rahul, who was captaining India for the first time after Virat Kohli was ruled out with an upper back spasm, was cautious in his approach. By the time it was lunchtime, though, South Africa had completely dominated the visitors, taking advantage of the bounce provided by the Wanderers ground.

Lungi Ngidi was the best of the bunch, with his precise lengths and direction, he asked a lot of questions. While he did not taste success, his strategy was emulated by the other bowlers, who received the benefits. Jansen got the first wicket by luring Mayank into a drive, while Olivier’s bounce took care of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, the latter becoming Olivier’s 50th Test victim.

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While a lot was riding on Pant and Ashwin to get India to a competitive score, Jansen and Olivier struck in rapid succession in the last session, putting India farther behind. Jansen took his third wicket off Pant’s inside edge, which was caught by the keeper, and Olivier was caught off guard when Thakur steered the ball straight to gully. Meanwhile, Ashwin remained unfazed, finding the boundary with ease and guiding India to the 200-mark.

However, he was out of partners, and Mohammed Shami was the seventh to depart when he returned a catch to Rabada. When Ashwin tried to play an upper cut off Jansen, the bout ended four minutes shy of a half-century. Jasprit Bumrah’s useful contributions helped India pass 200 runs before Kagiso Rabada finished the batting with his third wicket of Mohammed Siraj.