Johannesburg. Dean Elgar’s captaincy innings of grit and required aggression helped South Africa achieve their biggest target at the Wanderers on Thursday to register a seven-wicket win against India in the second Test and level the three-match series 1-1. . Elgar scored an unbeaten 96 off 188 balls with 10 fours as South Africa registered their first win against India at the Wanderers at 243 for three against a target of 240 on a rain-hit fourth day.
India, playing without Virat Kohli, scored 202 in their first innings and 266 in the second innings, while South Africa scored 229 runs in the first innings to take a 27-run lead. Elgar shared 47 for the first wicket with Aiden Markram (31) on Wednesday and 46 for the second wicket with Keegan Pietersen (28) on Thursday with Rossi van der Dusen on 82 runs and Temba Bavuma (not out). 23) ensured an easy victory for South Africa.
🚨 RESULT | #Proteas WIN BY 7 WICKETS
🇿🇦 Captain Dean Elgar’s unbeaten 96 was the mainstay of the #Proteas chase as he showed plenty of fight and grit to get his side over the line and level the #BetwayTestSeries#SAvIND #FreedomTestSeries #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/uez5t7RRqZ
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) January 6, 2022
India had not lost a match to the Wanderers before. He had won two matches here and had set India aiming to win the first Test series in South Africa with an unassailable lead here but Elgar dashed their hopes. Now the third match, starting on January 11 in Cape Town, has become the decider.
The Indian bowlers failed to build the pressure. Jasprit Bumrah did not get the wicket while Mohammad Siraj was not fully fit which affected the Indian strategy. On the other hand, the reliable drives of the South African batsmen were really visible which did not allow the Indians to dominate. After the rain of the first two sessions, the game finally started at 3:45 am local time (7:15 hrs IST).
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South Africa started playing at 118 runs for two wickets. Then he was 122 runs away from the target. South Africa made this run in a little over two hours. Despite the cloud cover and floodlights, India got Bumrah to open the bowling from Ravichandran Ashwin. Elgar started from where he ended his innings yesterday. Elgar remained the epitome of patience. He soon completed his 19th half-century of his Test career by hitting Ashwin at mid-on.
Van der Dussen’s drive on Bumrah was fascinating. Meanwhile, the umpires had to change the ball as the outfield was wet. The Indian bowlers were also troubled by the ball getting wet. South Africa got a total of 15 wide runs off three short pitch balls from Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Siraj. 14 runs came off Shami’s over which included two controlled boundaries from Van der Dussen. When Van der Dussen was looking dangerous, Shami got him caught by Cheteshwar Pujara at first slip off the ball going out.
India would soon have got the wicket of Temba Bavuma too but Thakur dropped the catch in the followthrough. Bavuma had not even opened the account then. Elgar, however, again put the pressure on the bowlers by hitting two consecutive fours on Shami. Bavuma started playing freely as in the first innings while Elgar made the right effort by hitting three fours in one over of Siraj. The South African captain finally hit the winning boundary. (agency)