India bundled out South Africa for 275 runs in the first innings before umpires called for stumps on the third day of the second Test between two sides at the the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Saturday.
Resuming at the overnight score of 36/3, South Africa were reduced to 162 for eight prior to tea before Keshav Maharaj (72) and Vernon Philander (44) staged late fightback for their side by stitching a crucial 109-run stand for the ninth wicket.
However, Ravichandran Ashwin struck twice to wrap the innings for the Faf du Plessis-led side. The off-spinner finished with a total of four wickets.
While Umesh Yadav bagged three wickets, Mohammad Shami and Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with two and a wicket, respectively.
Here are the highlights:
# Stumps!
# WICKET! Kagiso Rabada (2) was caught leg before wicket by Ravichandran Ashwin in the 106th over. South Africa 275 (105.4 overs)
# Kagiso Rabada comes in to bat!
# WICKET! Ashwin finally helped India break a crucial partnership between Maharaj and Philander by removing the former for 72. Maharaj was caught at leg slip by Rohit Sharma on the fourth delivery of 102nd over. South Africa 273/9 (102 overs)
# Keshav Maharan (72) and Vernon Philander (42) continue to frustrate the Indian bowlers. The duo has guided South Africa past 270-run mark. South Africa 271/8 (101 overs)
# 10 runs off the last five overs. Philander (38) and Maharaj (59) have now crossed the 250-run mark and are trailing India by 347 runs in the first innings. The duo has now stitched an over 100-run partnership for the ninth wicket. South Africa 254/8 (96 overs)
# FIFTY!! Maharaj (50) has brought up his maiden half-century off 96 balls. The South Africa batsman whipped away the fourth delivery of the 91st over straight to the right of long-on to pick up two runs and reach the mark. South Africa 244/8 (91 overs)
# 10 runs off last four overs. Maharaj (38) got an outside edge of the bat on the last delivery of the 87th over and ball went away behind point fo a boundary. South Africa are currently trailing by 371 runs from India in the first innings with two wickets remaining. South Africa 230/8 (88 overs)
# South Africa have added 11 runs off the last three overs. Maharaj (31) cracked the first delivery of the 81st over away between point and cover for a boundary before Philander (32) jabbed away the last delivery of 82nd over behind point for four. South Africa 220/8 (83 overs)
# 11 runs off the last three overs. Philander (28) and Maharaj (27) have brought up a half-century stand for the ninth wicket to guide South Africa past 200 runs. Philander drove the last delivery of the 80th over drives solidly straight of mid-on for a boundary. South Africa 208/8 (80 overs)
# South Africa 197/8 (77 overs) at Tea
# Eight runs off the last four overs. Maharaj (17) smashed the last delivery of the 73rd over down the ground and the ball went straight into the long-off fence for four runs. South Africa are approaching the 200-run mark. South Africa 191/8 (74 overs)
# Keshav Maharaj (10) and Vernon Philander (20) are looking to reduce South Africa's first-innings gap to India. The visitors are currently trailing by 418 runs. South Africa 183/8 (70 overs)
# Four runs off the four overs. Philander and Maharaj are currently batting at the crease at their respective scores of 18 and four. India, on the other hand, are looking to bag the remaining two wickets respectively. South Africa 171/8 (65 overs)
# South Africa 167/8 (60 overs)
# Keshav Maharaj is fit to bat!
# WICKET!! Ashwin has bagged a big wicket of Faf du Plessis (64) after Ajinkya Rahane completed a good catch at slip on the third delivery of the 59th over. South Africa 162/8 (58.3 overs)
# Seven runs off the last five overs. Philander got off the mark after 22nd ball with a drive down the ground on the last delivery of the 51st over by Jadeja. South Africa 147/7 (53 overs)
# Just a single off the last over. Du Plessis (55) flicked the third delivery of the 48th over between vacant spaces in front of square on the leg side. South Africa 140/7 (48 overs)
# Vernon Philander is the new batsman in!
# WICKET!! South Africa have now lost seven wickets. Muthusamy (7) was caught leg before wicket on the second delivery of the 43rd over by Ravindra Jadeja. South Africa 139/7 (44.2 overs)
# South Africa 136/6 at Lunch! (42 overs)
# Senuran Muthusamy is the new batsman in!
# WICKET!! Ravichandran Ashwin has got his breakthrough by bowling out in-form de Kock for 31 runs. South Africa have now lost 6th wicket and are now trailing India by 473 runs in the first innings. South Africa 128/6 (38 overs)
# FIFTY!! Faf du Plessis has brought up a half-century off 64 balls. He reached the mark by beating the man at cover on the last delivery of the 37th over.
# South Africa added 25 runs in the last three overs, including five boudaries. De Kock (27) and Du Plessis (50) have guided the visitors past 100-run mark when the former smashed a boundary with a square drive on the first delivery of the 35th over. South Africa 124/5 (37 overs)
# South Africa 99/5 (34 overs)
# Jadeja replaces Ashwin into the attack!
# Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock are batting cautiously at the crease at their respective scores of 20 and 17 and looking to steady South Africa's ship after losing the top-order cheaply. South Africa 84/5 (31 overs)
# Ishant Sharma returns into the attack!
# 13 runs off the last three overs, including three boundaries. Du Plessis (15) drove the second delivery of the 26th over away to the right of the backward point for a boundary before he smashed the last delivery of the over between second slip and gully for another four runs. South Africa 71/5 (27 overs)
# Ravichandran Ashwin introduced into the attack!
# Five runs off the last three overs. De Kock (4) got off the mark by nailing the second delivery of the the 22nd over away to the right of mid-off for four runs. South Africa 58/5 (24 overs)
# Ishant Sharma replaces Mohammed Shami into the attack!
# Quinton de Kock is the new batsman in!
# WICKET!! South Africa have now lost their fifth wicket. De Bruyn (30) was caught by Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps on the last delivery of the 21st over by Umesh Yadav. South Africa 53/5 (21 overs)
Another one gone! @y_umesh picks up his 3rd wicket. De Bruyn departs.
Live - https://t.co/IMXND6rdxV #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/72maBVaLbD
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 12, 2019
# Skipper Faf du Plessis is the new batsman in for South Africa!
# WICKET! Mohammed Shami bagged his second wicket of the match by removing Anrich Nortje for three. The South African batsman was caught by Indian skipper Virat Kohli at fourth slip on the second delivery of the 18th over. The visitors are now down by four wickets. South Africa 41/4 (17.2 overs)
Wicket No.1 on Day 3 - courtesy @MdShami11
Live - https://t.co/IMXND6rdxV #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/l4Jj4B3kcE
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 12, 2019
# Anrich Nortje and Theunis de Bruyn have walked down the crease to resume South Africa's innings. Mohammed Shami to open the proceedings for the hosts today.
# The players of the two teams are out on the field and are warming up before the play.
# The third day's play will begin shortly!
On Friday, the Indian bowlers reduced South Africa to a score of 36 for three in their first innings at stumps Day 2 of the second Test. At the end of the day's play, Anrich Nortje and Theunis de Bruyn were batting at the crease at their respective scores of two and 20.
Umesh Yadav, who was called into the Playing XI in place of Hanuma Vihari, removed South African openers Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar inside the first five overs before Temba Bavuma was caught by Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps on a Mohammad Shami delivery.
Earlier, Indian skipper Virat Kohli notched up his highest Test score of 254 besides stitching a huge 225-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja (91) to guide their side to a first-innings score of 601/5 declared.
En route to his innings which included 33 fours and two sixes, Kohli also smashed his seventh double hundred to surpass former cricketers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar for the most twin centuries by an Indian in the longest format of the game.
Kohli, who scored his first twin century against the West Indies in 2016, also went past former Australian cricketer Don Bradman's tally of 6,996 runs in Test cricket. With 7,000 runs in 81 Test matches, he also became the third-fastest Indian and joint fourth-fastest overall to amass these many runs.
The Indian skipper also equalled former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting's record of scoring maximum number of Test centuries as captain. The Indian skipper had notched up his 26th Test hundred and 19th as captain in red-ball cricket.
On Day 1, opener Mayank Agarwal (108) and first drop Cheteshwar Pujara (58) stitched a significant 138-run knock after India won the toss and opted to bat first.
India are currently leading the series against South Africa by 1-0 after registering a crushing 203-run victory in the first Test at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium,Visakhapatnam.
