Summary
- South Africa beat India in the second test by 7 wickets
- South Africa have now squared the series
- Third test starts on 11 Jan
South Africa came into the New Year’s test at the Wanderers under pressure as they were 0-1 down in the three match test series against India.
This was a must win game for the Proteas who had a big hole to fill with the sudden retirement of Quinton de Kock after the first test.
South Africa were outplayed in the first test and many expected the Proteas to get rolled over by India. However there was a shift even before play could begin when the Indian camp announced that skipper Virat Kohli would miss the second test due to a back spasm.
India batted first and needed to get to a decent total to put pressure on South Africa. The pace trio of Kagiso Rabada, Duanne Olivier and Marco Jansen proved to be a little too hot for India to handle at the Wanderers. The quicks shared a total of 10 wickets between them and restricted India to just 202 in the first innings.
South Africa got to 229 runs in the first innings to give themselves a narrow lead over India. They knew that they had to bowl well in the second innings to win the game and their fast bowlers delivered once again with Lungi Ngidi leading the way with four wickets. The absence of Kohli was felt in the middle-order as India collapsed for 266.
South Africa were also helped after pacer Mohammed Siraj suffered an injury and could only bowl a total of 15.5 overs in the match.
Captain Dean Elgar knew that he needed to make a big score in the second innings to get his side home and he did exactly that. The captain held the innings together and made an unbeaten 96 to help South Africa win by 7 wickets. South Africa never looked in trouble chasing down the total while Edgar was at the crease.
South Africa will take a lot of confidence from this victory and will be keen to continue the momentum in the third test. The third test will take place in Cape Town from Jan 11 to 15.
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