Twitter Reactions: Rohit, Mayank and late strikes leave South Africa gasping for breath after Day 2

Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja made it tough for the visitors in the closing stages of the day's play.

By Sabyasachi Chowdhury

View : 10.6K

2 Min Read

Indian team
info
Indian team. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Following the second day’s play of their opening Test versus India, it can be presumed that South Africa will find it tough to save the game, leave alone eking out a victory. Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal have ensured that the hosts are on the driver’s seat in Visakhapatnam. On a track, which is showing signs of slowing down, Faf du Plessis and Co face a trail of 463 with seven wickets in hand.

Mayank and Rohit pile more agony

Resuming at 202/0, Rohit and Mayank carried on with the good work and stitched together a stand of 317 runs in 82 overs. It eventually was Keshav Maharaj, who got Rohit, stumped, to break the stand. The Mumbai batter notched 176 runs and his knock was laced with 23 fours and six over-boundaries. Meanwhile, Mayank went on to rack up his maiden Test century off 204 balls.

He didn’t stop there and converted it into a double century to put India in a commanding position. Part timer Dean Elgar accounted for his wicket after he scored 215 runs with India’s score at 436. Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Hanuma Vihari and Ajinkya Rahane perished after getting into the double digits. For the Proteas, quick wickets came, but the damage had already been done.

Ashwin and Jadeja dictate terms

Wriddhiman Saha played a breezy hand of 21 with four boundaries and soon after, India declared at 502/7 in 136 overs. With 20 overs left, Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram had the tough task of seeing their team through unscathed. Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami bowled four overs and then it was the turn of Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to weave their magic under the floodlights.

Ashwin cleaned up Markram to strike first blood and then nipped out Theunis de Bruyn. Thereafter, Jadeja rattled night-watchman Dane Piedt’s woodwork. Surprisingly, Du Plessis didn’t come out to bat after the fall of the third wicket, and Temba Bavuma took the crease. At the other end, Elgar staved off the bowling gracefully and remained unbeaten on 27 off 63. The southpaw also hit a six.

Here is how Twitter reacted on the day’s play

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:

googletelegraminstagramwhatsappyoutubethreadstwitter

Download Our App

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS and Google Play Store
South Africa