India vs South Africa Highlights, 3rd Test, Day 2: Kohli, Pujara take IND to 57/2 at Stumps, lead by 70 at Newlands

JEEEEZ! FOUR BYES! Bumrah is spitting fire on this second morning. Pitches outside off and nips bags in viciously. Maharaj is cut into half and the ball whizzes past the Pant, who couldn't get to it with a full-length dive.

SA are 29/2 after 11 overs, trail IND by 194 runs

EDGED AND FOUR! Nightwatchman Keshav Maharaj edges the first ball of Shami's first over of the day and the ball darts through third slip and gully for 4.

Gully has moved finer.

SA are 24/2 after 10 overs, trail IND by 199 runs

Keegan Petersen bunts the ball through point for a couple and is off the mark straightaway.

SA are 19/2 after 9 overs, trails IND by 204 runs

BOWLED HIM! Markram shoulders arms an inswinger from Bumrah and he loses his off stump. A wicket on the second ball of the day.

SA are 17/2 after 8.2 overs, trail IND by 206 runs

Keegan Petersen is the new batter in

Aiden Markram will face the first delivery of the day from Jasprit Bumrah.

SA are 17/1 after 8 overs, trail IND by 206 runs.

The umpires, the Indian team and the two SA batters have stepped out

It is a true pitch. There is enough in it for the bowlers but if you apply yourself, if you are set then you get value for your shots. I thought it is a very good cricketing pitch. You are never set and need to know which shot to play and which shot to avoid, when you are in you have to make it count which I couldn't do but like Virat did. You might feel there's not enough when a partnership is building but there's one ball which can do a bit and can surprise you as a batter even when you are set. We definitely should have scored 30-40 runs but we are confident in our bowling line-up. If we bowl in the right areas then we can restrict them. I think 275 is a good total on this pitch.

We are just 5 minutes away from the start of Day's play. The series finale got off to sensational start. 

Rishabh Pant, after a torrid shot in the second innings of the second Test at the Wanderers, looked more reassuring in the middle on Tuesday. He scored 27 before Marco Jansen picked him. More importantly, he forged an important stand with the skipper to ensure India crossed 200

Ajinkya Rahane was expected to follow up his half-century in the second innings of the second Test with another big score but the batter failed to impress yet again. He only scored 9 before edging one off Rabada to the keeper. Once again, questions on his place in the team are being asked. 

Cheteshwar Pujara scored 43 yesterday off 77 balls and the knock included 7 boundaries. While Kohli was fighting a battle, Pujara looked positive and looked to score runs. Surely, a great sign for Indian cricket

You'd have to say Lungi Ngidi has been a tad unlucky since the first Test. In the second game in Jo'burg, despite bowling well, he didn't get to bowl a lot of overs as his teammates started picking wickets. 

Yesterday, he was top-notch again and yet, could only bag one wicket. A lot of close calls that may have turned into wickets on another day.

Tall, or should I say really tall, left-arm pacer Marco Jansen bagged a three-wicket haul and once again, played a massive role in SA's attack yesterday

Kagiso Rabada marked his 50th Test appearance with a brilliant 4-wicket haul. He battled hard all day against Virat Kohli, who took 201 balls and showed immense discipline before being dismissed to Rabada on 79 

• 79: Ajinkya Rahane needs 79 more runs to complete 5000 Test runs.

• 1 & 2: Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli needs 1 and 2 more catches to complete 100 Test catches.

30 minutes to go for the start of play. Can Indian bowlers find an early breakthrough?

Mohammad Shami with 11 wickets is leading the Indian bowling attack in this series and bowled 71 overs so far.

• Against South Africa he has picked 45 wickets in 10 Tests which is the most wickets for him against any team in his career.

If Shami picks 5 more wickets, he will be the 5th Indian bowler and 2nd Indian pacer after Javagal Srinath to pick 50 Test wickets vs SA.

o Anil Kumble- 84 wkts, 31.79 Avg, 81.3 SR

o Javagal Srinath- 64 wkts, 24.48 Avg, 51.7 SR

o Harbhajan Singh- 60 wkts, 28.40 Avg, 59.4 SR

o R Ashwin- 56 wkts, 20.76 Avg, 49.8 SR

• Shami who has a bowling strike rate of 40.5 against SA is the best by a bowler in this century (Since 2000) with minimum 300 overs bowled.

However, it remains the most successful venue for South Africa in Tests.

There have been 5 Tests at this venue between South Africa and India, the home team won 3, drawn 2 and lost none.

o Also, the last time South Africa lost back to back Tests at Cape Town was between 1957-1962.

• Moreover, 16 out of the 21 defeats and 23 out of their 26 wins at Cape Town post their readmission after Apartheid in 199

The last time Cape Town hosted a Test match was 2 years back between the home team against England.

The visiting team won the match by 189 runs, which was also the first defeat for the home team at the venue after March 2014

Best Bowling Figures:

8/11 By Johnny Briggs (England) Against South Africa In

1889.

Highest Partnership:

399 By Jonny Bairstow And Ben Stokes (England) For 6th

Wicket Against South Africa In 2016.

Win Rate Batting First:

50% (5 Won; 4 Lost; 1 Draw

Highest Team Total:

651/10 By South Africa Against Australia In 2009.

Lowest Team Total:

35/10 By South Africa Against England In 1899.

Highest Individual Score:

262 By Stephen Fleming (New Zealand) Against South Africa

In 2006.

[SA - IND Current Squads]

Most Wickets- Kagiso Rabada - 37 Wickets | Ravichandran Ashwin - 56 Wickets

BBI -6/39 By Lungi Ngidi On Jan 13, 2018 | 7/61 By Shardul Thakur On Jan 03, 2022

[SA - IND Current Squads]
Most runs- Dean Elgar - 778 Runs | Virat Kohli - 1128 Runs

Highest Scores- 160 By Dean Elgar On Oct 02, 2019 | 254* By Virat Kohli On Oct 10, 2019

SA:

Highest Total Chased -239 On Jan 03, 2022

Lowest Total Defended- 207 On Jan 05, 2018

IND:

Highest Total Chased- 116 On Nov 28, 2004

Lowest Total Defended-169 On Nov 20, 1996