South Africa's resistance comes to an end. Ashwin finishes with four wickets, trapping Rabada in front to bring the curtains on Proteas' first innings. Keshav Maharaj (72) and Vernon Philander (44*) showed great determination and skill to frustrate India's bowlers on the third day, but a total in excess of 600 meant the host was always going to hold the advantage. However, the 109-run stand for the ninth wicket was the highlight for the visitor. That would be all from our side. Join us tomorrow for all the action from day four. Ciao!
SOUTH AFRICA 224/8 | 3:15 PM
Overs-86.2
K Maharaj 33(84), V. Philander 34(133)
Maharaj and Philander have started swinging at a few deliveries. India have taken the new ball and it's started to get a little dark in Pune. Shami has bowled probing lines with the new ball and is unlucky to not have another wicket against his name. He is sharing the new ball with Ishant Sharma. Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin is off the field, nursing what looks like an injured finger. SA need 178 more to avoid follow-on.
SOUTH AFRICA 203/8 | 2:40 PM
Overs-79
K Maharaj 26(59), V. Philander 24 (114)
India opting for pace and spin after tea. Mohammad Shami and Ravindra Jadeja operating in tandem. The partnership between Philander and Maharaj is nearing fifty. How much longer can they resist?
----------------------END OF SESSION 2, DAY 3------------------ SOUTH AFRICA 197/8 | Philander 23 (111), Maharaj 21 (50)
SOUTH AFRICA 191/8 | 2:00 PM
Overs-74
K Maharaj 17(44), V. Philander 21 (99)
Philander and Maharaj dug in, got settled and are now frustrating the Indian bowlers with a nagging ninth wicket stand. Same old tale of the tail wagging defiantly against the Indian bowlers...
SOUTH AFRICA 162/8 | 1:07 PM
Overs-59
du Plessis 64(117), V. Philander 13 (50)
OUT! Ravichandran Ashwin has breached South Africa's final line of defence: Du Plessis falls for 64. Just a matter of time before the rest cave?
SOUTH AFRICA 162/7 | 1:01 PM
Overs-55
du Plessis 64(114), V. Philander 13 (50)
NUMBER CRUNCH: South Africa needs 254 runs to avoid follow-on with three wickets in hand. Unbeaten on 61, Faf du Plessis is the lone man standing for the Proteas.
GONE! Jadeja strikes right after lunch, and Muthusamy has to go. The Protea spinner is adjudged lbw, but he reviews to no avail. South Africa seven down, with a follow-on now looking imminent.
UPDATE : Keshav Maharaj will bat today and the medical team will monitor him for discomfort throughout the remainder of match & make a call on bowling based on that.
LUNCH! SOUTH AFRICA 136/6 | 11:30 AM
SOUTH AFRICA 128/6 | 11:19 AM
Overs-38
du Plessis 50(64), S. Muthusamy 0(0)
FIFTY and a WICKET! Du Plessis brings up yet another fighting fifty, this time with two back-to-back boundaries off Ravindra Jadeja. But Ravichandran Ashwin has cleaned up De Kock to break the nagging stand; just the breakthrough India wanted before lunch.
SOUTH AFRICA 88/5 | 10:56 AM
Overs-32
du Plessis 20(40), De Kock 21(36)
Du Plessis and de Kock have added 35 for the sixth wicket so far. Kohli has introduced Ravi Ashwin into the attack. So a mix of pace and spin for the Proteas. de Kock was lucky he didn't chop one back on to his stumps. Shami offered width and the keeper-batsman tried to scythe it away. But the length wasn't short enough de Kock's under edge just about evaded the off-stump.
DRINKS!
SOUTH AFRICA 71/5 | 10:30 AM
Overs-27
du Plessis 15(29), De Kock 9(17)
Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis, two of South Africa's most experienced batsmen are out in the middle. India will be wary of the duo's counter-attacking abilities, as was evident during their respective knocks in the first innings in Visakhapatnam. De Kock scored a fine hundred, and du Plessis resisted the Indian charge with a fifty. The Proteas will be hoping for more of the same this time around.
SOUTH AFRICA 53/5 | 10:04 AM
Overs-21
du Plessis 6(10), De Kock 0(0)
WICKET! What a catch: well, Kohli did say 'Saha is the best keeper in the world', didn't he? He jumps across to his right and grabs a brilliant catch in front of first slip to get rid of de Bruyn. Umesh Yadav with the breakthrough.
SOUTH AFRICA 45/4 | 9:45 AM
Overs-17.3
de Bruyn 24(46), Du Plessis 4(2)
GONE! Mohammad Shami has removed night-watchman Nortje courtesy a sharp take by skipper Virat Kohli in the slips. Nortje was undone by the lift on that delivery and got a thick outside edge. South Africa slips further.
Out come the South African batsmen, De Bruyn and Nortje. Mohammed Shami to start proceedings with the ball.
----------------------START OF SESSION 1, DAY 3------------------
=============================
PITCH REPORT | "There is some rough developing, but it shouldn't worry the batsmen a lot. The odd ball will turn and misbehave, but it's still a good batting pitch," feel Sunil Gavasakar and Murali Kartik.
DAY TWO REPORT
ill July 2016, Virat Kohli did not have a single double century in Test cricket. But three years later, on a bright and sunny Friday afternoon, the India captain brought up his seventh double ton - notching an unbeaten 254 against South Africa.
The stellar innings not only helped India put up a mammoth 601-5 (decl) against the Proteas on the second day of the second Test, but also put the visiting side under immense pressure.
And that was evident as South Africa was left reeling at 36-3 at the end of the day, with Theunis de Bruyn (20) and Anrich Nortje (8) remaining unbeaten at the end of the day.
India vs South Africa | Second Test | Day 2 | As it Happened
While Umesh Yadav -- who was drafted into the side, keeping the nature of the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium’s wicket in mind -- scalped two wickets to put the visitor on the back foot, the day belonged to captain Kohli.
King Kohli oozes class
Against a South Africa bowling line-up, which failed to make an impact, Kohli hammered his first Test ton of the year, in eleven innings. And then, aptly summed it up by going past Sir Donald Bradman’s record of most number of 150-plus scores as a skipper.
While the Australian legend had gone past the 150 run-mark on eight occasions, Kohli now has nine in his kitty.
With the region witnessing incessant rain overnight, Kohli knew batting could be difficult in the first session, with South Africa having the quicks -- Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada -- in its ranks.
Not the one who would take a backward step, even under pressure, Kohli relied on his natural game and went on the counter-attack as he forged a 178-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Ajinkya Rahane -- the highest for India against South Africa.
The two tackled the Proteas bowlers with ease, before Rahane fell for 59, caught behind by Quinton de Kock off Rabada, soon after lunch.
But the Proteas pacers struggled to keep King Kohli quiet. The 30-year-old ensured there was never a dull moment for the 6,000-odd spectators who had braved the scorching sun to come out and cheer for their favourite cricketer.
Jadeja, Kohli pile on the agony
Pairing with Ravindra Jadeja, Kohli added another 225 runs for the fifth wicket -- going hammer and tongs at the opposition bowlers. Soon after scoring his double century, Kohli, however, was caught at slip by Faf du Plessis off Senuran Muthusamy. But it turned out to be a no-ball!
Having got a reprieve, the captain took it slow after a point, allowing Jadeja to play a blitzkrieg innings of 91 in 104 balls and pile up quick runs.
That strategy worked well for the host. On a track, which dried up as the game progressed, none of the Proteas bowlers could dig in and that was evident with the fact that only two Indian wickets fell in the entire day.
Just when it looked Jadeja, too, would score a ton, he was caught by de Bryun off Muthusamy, falling nine short of the three digit mark.
But by then, India had enough runs on the board to throw up a challenge for the young and inexperienced South African batting line-up.
You can watch the match on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD in English commentary and Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 3 HD in Hindi commentary. You can also watch the live streaming on Hotstar .
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