India vs South Africa 2nd Test: SA wrest back advantage as Indian bowlers toil hard

Guwahati: After a compelling day of Test cricket on Saturday, it was a classic slow burner on Sunday with the pitch nicely settling down and batters enjoying a field day. Having gained a slight upper hand at close on the opening day, the Indian bowlers were in for a grind that few could have imagined. The last four stands for South Africa forced them to toil for almost 70 overs spread over five long hours with the tourists accumulating 243 runs as opposed to 246 across six partnerships on the first day of the second Test here at the ACA Cricket Stadium.

The Indian pacers failed to make any impact with the second new ball, which was less than two overs old, in the opening hour while spinners couldn't replicate their opening day's magic as the pitch played fewer tricks. Overnight batter Senuran Muthusamy (109, 206b, 10x4, 2x6) struck his maiden Test hundred and Marco Jansen (93, 91b, 6x4, 7x4) missed out on what could have been his maiden ton but together they might have just put the game beyond India who must win to level the series after crashing to defeat in Kolkata inside three days.

South Africa, overnight 247/6, posted 489 all out, ending their innings just after drinks in the final session. Indian openers -- Yashasvi Jaiswal (7 n.o.) and KL Rahul (2 n.o.) -- played out the tricky twilight passage to be at 9/0 when bad light ended the day's play.

For the second time in the past three home series, India found themselves in an unfamiliar situation of a visiting side pushing them on the backfoot with Muthusamy and Jansen at the heart of South Africa's complete domination on the day.

Muthusamy, a domestic veteran back home with over 5000 first-class runs under his belt, showed remarkable patience and discipline while crafting a high quality century, combining steady accumulation with timely aggression. After extending overnight stand with Wiaan Mulder to 88 on Sunday and ensuring India went wicketless on a largely benign track in the first session, Muthusamy helped South Africa consolidate in the company of Jansen whose whirlwind knock took the wind out of India's sails.

While Muthusamy, who survived an on-field lbw decision when on 48 through DRS with a minute spike on the snicko, constructed his innings relying on old-school grinding of the attack, Jansen took the fight to the opposition, manufacturing a series of boundaries. The 6'7" batter used his long levers to good effect, reaching the balls early and depositing them deep into the stands. It wasn't a mindless slog, though. He picked the right deliveries to attack while exhibiting an impressive defence for a No. 9 batter.

Together with Muthusamy, the 25-year-old raised 97 runs for the eighth wicket in just 107 balls that hurt India's position in the game. Where South Africa scored 69/0 in 29.1 overs in the first session, they raced to 112/1 in the second in just 26 overs as Jansen went on a rampage.

Jansen repeatedly took on Kuldeep Yadav (4/115) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/94), striking seven towering sixes by confidently stepping out and swinging powerfully through the arc between straight boundary and long on. That Kuldeep received two warnings from umpires for not sticking to the time-limit of 60 seconds between overs only added to stand-in skipper Rishabh Pant's annoyance. A third warning would have cost five-penalty runs.

Apart from Jasprit Bumrah (2/75), who bowled his heart out without much luck, none of the Indian bowlers appeared threatening. The finger spinners -- Jadeja and Washington Sundar (0/58) were rendered ineffective as the pitch lost its early bite.

With South Africa having consumed almost two days, the onus will be on India now to do all the running and make a match out of a Test that has already lost 20 overs on the first two days.

SCORE BOARD

INDIA (I Innings; O/n: 247/6):

Markram b Bumrah 38

(81b, 5x4)

Rickelton c Pant b Kuldeep 35

(82b, 5x4)

Stubbs c Rahul b Kuldeep 49

(112b, 4x4, 2x6)

Bavuma c Jaiswal b Jadeja 41

(92b, 5x4)

De Zorzi c Pant b Siraj 28

(59b, 3x4, 1x6)

Mulder c Jaiswal b Kuldeep 13

(18b, 2x4)

Muthusamy c Jaiswal b Siraj 109

(206b, 10x4, 2x6)

Verreynne St Pant b Jadeja 45

(122b, 5x4)

Jansen b Kuldeep 93

(91b, 6x4, 7x6)

Harmer b Bumrah 5

(17b)

Maharaj (not out) 12

(31b, 1x4)

Extras (B-8, LB-8, NB-4, W-1) 21

Total (all out, 151.1 overs) 489

Fall of wickets: 1-82 (Markram), 2-82 (Rickelton), 3-166 (Bavuma), 4-187 (Stubbs), 5-201 (Mulder), 6-246 (de Zorzi), 7-334 (Verryenne), 8-431 (Muthusamy), 9-462 (Harmer).

Bowling: Bumrah 32-10-75-2 (nb-2), Siraj 30-5-106-2 (w-1, nb-1), Nitish 6-0-25-0, Washington 26-5-58-0, Kuldeep 29.1-4-115-4, Jadeja 28-2-94-2.

INDIA (I Innings):

Jaiswal (batting) 7

(23b, 1x4)

Rahul (batting) 2

(14b)

Extras (0) 0

Total (for no loss, 6.1 overs) 9

Bowling: Jansen 3.1-1-9-0, Mulder 3-3-0-0.