South Africa were firmly behind the driving wheel at stumps on day four of the second Test, reducing India to 35/3 after setting the visitors a stiff target of 287 to level the three-match series. But two incidents late in the day, involving debutant Proteas pacer Lungi Ngidi, Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel, spiced things up and even prompted Dale Steyn to appear on Twitter backing Ngidi's aggression.
The 21-year-old pacer, who bagged 2/14 to rock India's chase, dismissed big fish Kohli for five and then hit Patel in the chest. The Indian wicketkeeper fell down at once, almost gasping for breath, while Ngidi stood at the end of his run-up ready to deliver the next ball.
That prompted Steyn, who is out of the series due to a left heel injury, to tweet: "#fastbowlersdontcare".
"Love that. PP down and Lungi ready at his mark for more #fastbowlersdontcare," Steyn's complete tweet read.
Love that
PP down and Lungi ready at his mark for more #fastbowlersdontcare— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) January 16, 2018
Before that, Ngidi was involved in another incident that enraged Kohli.
As Kohli walked back to the dressing room, a pumped-up Ngidi, after looking at the dismissal on the big screen, turned towards the South African dressing room and punched the air. That made Kohli turn back at once with angry looks towards the South African team in a huddle.
However, it didn't appear that Ngidi had any intention of enraging Kohli, whose dismissal left India struggling at 26/3.
Kohli has also been fined 25 percent of his match fee for showing dissent against the umpire during the third day's play.
