The ongoing India-South Africa test series gets more exciting for the cricket fans, as SA manages to put on a good show in the second test to level the series at 1-1 and thereby ensuring a series decider at Cape Town.
A historic Indian victory was on the cards as day 3 ended on a high for India with Ravi Ashwin picking up the wicket of Keegan Peterson. However, on day 4 the South Africans had other plans. Given the case of the bouncy and bowler-friendly patch here at Johannesburg, even the poultry target of 240 seemed highly challenging, especially in front of a good Indian bowling attack. The SA team began day 4 on a positive note, starting at 118 for the loss of just two wickets & Captain Elgar still remaining unbeaten. Continuing from where they left, the duo of Van Dusen & Elgar laid a solid platform for a South African victory on their soil after a humiliating loss in the first test. The South-African skipper remained unbeaten with a classic knock of 96 & took the home team to the finish line. Despite struggling at the start of the innings, Elgar managed to survive & restore the balance towards his side. The heroics of Shardul Thakur in the first innings with excellent figures of 7 for 61 went in vain as all the focus get shifted to the decider at Cape Town.
India will be very desperate to register their first-ever series win in South Africa. They need to come back hard in Cape Town. All eyes will be on the skipper Virat Kohli, who missed the second Test with an upper back spasm. Head coach Rahul Dravid indicated that Kohli should be ready for the Cape Town Test as training sessions are going in full swing. However, there will be fitness concern over Mohammad Siraj, who suffered a hamstring injury during the second Test at the Wanderers. The ace-pacer Umesh Yadav is likely to replace Siraj, ensuring a strong pace attack.
As far as the batting is concerned, KL Rahul has proved to be the main performer in the series so far. The Indian middle-order has miserably failed in the first two tests. Pujara, Rahane & Pant have to contribute to a major extent to put a respectable total on the board in the third test. Also, with a track record of decent batting performances in Australia & England, Shardul Thakur could well turn out to be the difference if he could repeat the same here in South Africa.
On the other hand, SA had a lot of positive takeaways from the second test and the team is in the grooves of some good form. Especially the bowling department came to the party with Oliver, Rabada & Ngidi bowling testing lines throughout & Jansen also proving to be a valuable addition. With the spinners not able to get much purchase from the South African tracks, pacers again will have a major share of wickets in the third test.
With both the sides looking equally balancing, Will India be able to make history at Cape Town? Let's wait & watch.
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