India’s Batting Crumbles Again; South Africa Build Massive Lead in Second Test

The final game of the two-match Test series is being contested between India and South Africa at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati. After posting 489 runs in the first innings, South Africa bowled out India for 201 runs. That gave South Africa a massive 288-run lead over India as per their first innings. At the end of the third day's play, South Africa had scored 26 runs in the second innings without losing a single wicket. Thus, the visitors' total lead now reads 314 runs.

The Indian team started cautiously on the third day, continuing from Sunday's score of 9/0. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul played cautiously as they added 65 runs for the first wicket. KL Rahul was dismissed for 22. After his dismissal, the team's score had only added 30 runs before Yashasvi Jaiswal returned to the pavilion after scoring a half-century (58 runs, 57 balls). Subsequently, Sai Sudarshan (15 runs, 40 balls), Dhruv Jurel (0 runs, 11 balls), captain Rishabh Pant (7 runs, 8 balls), Nitish Kumar Reddy (10 runs, 18 balls), and Ravindra Jadeja (6 runs, 18 balls) also departed in quick succession.

In this situation, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar took on the responsibility of carrying the Indian innings forward. Both batted intelligently and troubled the South African bowlers considerably. The two Indian batsmen combined for a 72-run partnership for the eighth wicket in 208 balls, taking the team's score past 200. This dangerous partnership was broken by South African spinner Simon Harmer, who had Washington Sundar caught by Aiden Markram for 48. After his dismissal, Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah (5 runs) couldn't withstand the South African bowlers for long. The Indian team was all out for 201 in the first innings.

Indian cricketer Kuldeep Yadav faced the South African bowlers admirably in the match. He held one end and provided excellent support to Washington Sundar. This can be gauged from the fact that Kuldeep Yadav scored 19 runs off 134 balls. In other words, this is the longest innings by any Indian batsman in this series, in terms of balls. Had the top-order Indian batsmen put in the same fighting spirit as Kuldeep Yadav, India might not have fallen behind by 288 runs in the first innings.