South Africa’s opening pair of Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton combined for yet another 50-run partnership against India in this Test series.
This is the third time they’ve done so, and the Proteas’ lead in the second Test has extended past 340 runs with this milestone.
India, on the other hand, is still searching for wickets. While the home side’s batsmen struggled to score on the wicket on Day 3, the visitors have been thriving in these conditions.
South Africa Eye Clean Sweep Against India
South Africa won their first Test match against India in India after 15 years last week in Kolkata at the Eden Gardens. And by the looks of it, they are on the cusp of a series clean sweep.
The Temba-Bavuma led side has absolutely dominated Rishabh Pant’s India in Guwahati in both departments.
Most of their top order batsmen scored over 35 in the first innings, and then their lower order put up an even stronger fight. Senuran Muthusamy pitched in with a century, and Marco Jansen, primarily a fast bowler, scored 93, batting almost till the end of Day 2 and pushing his team to 489 runs.
When it was India’s turn with the bat, it almost seemed like the conditions had switched as most batsmen faltered, with even experienced players like Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja being dismissed on single digit scores.
The result? India was bowled out on 201, that too thanks to a valiant partnership from Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav, along with Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 58 at the top.
Bavuma could have enforced a Follow-On, but he didn’t and sent his batsmen out to bat again, building onto their lead.
The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav haven’t troubled the Proteas’ opening pair so far, who have look pretty comfortable on the Guwahati pitch.