South Africa vs India, second Test Day 2: Shardul Thakur's heroics turn the tide against hosts

When the Indian batting unit failed to deliver on Day 1 of the second Test against South Africa, the team needed a hero with the ball on Day 2. That hero turned out to be Shardul Thakur, whose performance almost single-handedly brought the team back into the game. The pacer picked an incredible seven wickets to derail the Proteas’ innings as they were bowled out for just 229 runs. India came out to bat later and ended the day on 85-2 with a lead of 58 runs. Veteran batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are currently in the middle for the visitors.

Shardul simply stunning

The story of the day revolves around Shardul Thakur. He bowled exceptionally well to completely dismantle the South African innings. Shardul finished with incredible figures of 7-61 in 17.5 overs. He picked most of the crucial wickets, including those of Dean Elgar, Keegan Petersen, and Temba Bavuma. The pacer is one of the top contenders for man of the match at the moment.

Shardul Thakur finishes with a seven-wicket haul as South Africa are bowled out for 229.

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Apart from Shardul, Mohammed Shami picked a couple of wickets in 21 overs for 52 runs while Jasprit Bumrah bagged one scalp for 49 runs. Mohammed Siraj and Ravichandran Ashwin remained wicketless on the day.

Bavuma, Petersen score half-centuries

Despite the low total, there were a couple of impressive batting performances in the South African batting unit. Petersen did a fine job for the hosts as he scored 62 runs off 119 balls in a knock that included nine boundaries. The team’s T20 skipper Temba Bavuma also did a decent job, making 51 runs off just 60 deliveries. He hit six boundaries and one maximum.

Also Read – India vs South Africa: Shardul Thakur takes 7 wickets, scripts history at The Wanderers

Skipper Dean Elgar scored 28 runs while the likes of wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj scored 21 runs each. It was an impressive display from Maharaj who is not usually known for his skills with the bat.

Early wickets for South Africa

The Proteas knew they had to pick early wickets to have a chance to win the match, and that is exactly what they got. Skipper Elgar entrusted the ball to Jansen, who had picked up four wickets in the first innings and he did the job yet again. The pacer dismissed India’s stand-in captain KL Rahul, who had scored a half-century in the previous innings, for just 8 runs. Duanne Oliver dismissed Mayank Agarwal for 23.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are the two men in the middle for India at the moment and they have scored 35 and 11 runs respectively.