On second successive day Indian bowlers search for wicket but it has not came at the right time and when second days play ended India were on the back foot with mountain to climb to surpass the huge South African 1st inning total of 558/6 (declared). At stumps Indians were 25 without loss with Gambhir batting on 12 and his partner Sehwag is batting on 9 runs. 2nd days play completely belongs to one man Hashim Amla who hits his first maiden double century in test cricket. Amla unbeaten 253 not out guided South Africa in a position from where only miracle can put them into trouble in this game. He came into bat when South Africa were struggling at 6/2 in the sixth over of first days play but he and J.Kallis (173 runs) put on 340 runs partnership for the third wicket to guide South Africa to a commanding position in this game. AB Develiers also hit 53 runs and got out in trying to increase the tempo but before his dismissal he and Amla put on another crucial 108 runs for the fourth wicket. South Africa declared their first innings at 558 for six, hoping to make some early dents in the remaining four overs of the day. However that didn’t happen as the successful Indian opening pair, Gambhir and Sehwag stayed put at the crease, guiding the side to 25 for no loss with the hosts still trailing by 533 runs and needing 314 to avoid follow-on. Now India needs to bat as long as possible to at least get closer to South African first inning runs and from there on they can think of at least putting South Africans under pressure. Match Summary (Day2 Stump) South Africa 1st Inning– 558/6dec in 176 Overs H.Amla- 253* J.Kallis– 173 Zaheer Khan- 31-7-96-3 Harbhajan Singh– 46-1-166-2 India 1st Inning– 25/0 in 4 Overs G.Gambhir- 12* V.Sehwag– 9* D.Styen–2-0-8-0 M.Morkel- 2-0-13-0 |
