India vs South Africa 1st Test, Day 2 Highlights: Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal shared a brilliant opening stand.(Source: AP)
India vs South Africa (IND vs SA) 1st Test Highlights: Mayank Agarwal and the spinners put India in control. South Africa 39/3 at stumps on day two, trailing by 463. After scoring his first century in only his fifth test, Mayank Agarwal made it a double. The India opening batsman was out for 215 during the second session Thursday on the second day of the first test.
India had resumed the rain-shortened first day at 202/0 and was 324/1 at lunch Thursday. In the first session, debut test opener Rohit Sharma was out for 176. Sharma crossed 150 off 225 balls and looked set for a surprising double century in his new role when he was stumped off Keshav Maharaj (2-169 six overs before lunch. It was the 10th time both Indian openers have scored hundreds in the same innings.
India
502/7 dec & 323/4 decSouth Africa
431 (131.2) & 191 (63.5)India beat South Africa by 203 runs
South Africa 39/3, still trail by 463 runs. Elgar: 27(63) | Ashwin: 2/9 | Jadeja: 1/21
Perfect day for India. Enough runs on the board, opposition in disarray, bewildered batsmen. South Africa need to follow the lead of Elgar who has batted really well but will have to display great skill against quality spin.
Dane Piedt goes without troubling the scorers, Jadeja has his first. Piedt went forward and played for the turn but the ball went straight through the gap and disturbed the middle stump. Both the Indian spinners are in fine rhythm and have the Proteas struggling at 34/3
Ashwin has another, Theunis de Bruyn walks after a bottom edge to the keeper. de Bruyn goes for 4(25)and South Africa lose another. Nightwatchman Piedt walks in SA- 31/2
SIXXXX! wasn't to the pitch of this one either, but he kept his head in shape rather than losing it and just chipped it through the line. The timing's so good that not only does it get him out of danger, it goes all the way. SA- 27/1 after 11 ovs
South Africa's opening stands in Asia since Nov 2015:
9
8
15
4
17
36
5
1
12
4
23
14 -- Today
Gone! Ashwin goes right through the defence of Markram. Off spin which is well flighted and dips right at the correct juncture. Markram prods forward and leaves just enough space between bat and pad to get bowled. Ashwin is delighted. Markram goes for 5(21). SA- 14/1
Aiden Markram welcomes Ravindra Jadeja with a boundary off the first ball of his over. Five dots to follow after that. R Ashwin from the other end. The ball is keeping low when it hits the rough. Just a single from the over. SA - 14/0 in 6 overs
Ishant Sharma opens the bowling for India while we are expecting spinners to do it. Dean Elgar gets off the mark with a boundary, a flick off the pads. SA - 4/0 in 1 over
He was just looking to get past the 500-run mark. Virat Kohli has declared India's first innings and given the Indian bowlers to have a crack at South African batsmen in the third session. IND - 502/7 in 136 overs
500 up for India in the 136th over. The declaration from Virat Kohli can come any moment now.
Finally, off-spinner Dane Piedt gets a wicket. Another Indian batsman gets out trying to hit a bad delivery. Wriddhiman Saha out for 21 from 16 deliveries. Saha has done what was expected of him. Ravichandran Ashwin comes to bat. IND - 494/7 in 131.3 overs
Ravindra Jadeja hits another boundary from Keshav Maharaj's over. The ball hits the advertisement ropes and gets stuck between them. Three players searching for the ball outside the boundary but noone has a clue where it is. Aiden Markram comes to the rescue as he picks up the ball after seeing it on the giant screen. IND - 478/6 in 129 overs
Ravindra Jadeja has hit the ball a long way. That's out of the park. Jadeja has got the skipper's message loud and clear.
Virat Kohli signals from the dressing room but he is not declaring the innings. He signalled 9 more overs to bat and wants Ravindra Jadeja to shift gears. Ashwin Ravichandran is padded up too. The aim is to score as many runs as possible and then put South African batsmen under pressure. Meanwhile, Wriddhiman Saha gets off the mark. Two boundaries from Saha's bat in Philander's over. IND - 466/6 in 128 overs
Hanuma Vihari dances down the track and takes the aerial route against Keshav Maharaj but could not clear the long off fielder. Third wicket for Maharaj, Maharaj takes his third wicket. IND - 457/6 in 126.4 overs
Ravindra Jadeja and Hanuma Vihari are trying to play themselves in after the wickets of Mayank Agarwal and Ajinkya Rahane. India will look to declare after the first innings score goes over 500 keeping in mind that rain may spoilsport on the last three days. IND - 450/5 in 124 overs
Mayank Agarwal gets out trying to hit part-timer Dean Elgar for a big one. An exceptional catch in the deep by Dane Piedt. Agarwal out for 215. Two new batsmen, Ravindra Jadeja and Hanuma Vihari in the middle. IND - 436/5 in 120 overs
Ajinkya Rahane departs for 15, an easy catch for Temba Bavuma. Keshav Maharaj gets his second wicket of the day, a soft dismissal. IND - 431/4 in 118 overs
Mayank Agarwal gets to his double Test century from 358 deliveries. Agarwal converts his maiden Test ton into a double. We have seen big innings from him over the years in domestic cricket but this is the first time we have seen in perform like this in international cricket. IND - 419/3 in 116 overs
Mayank Agarwal is just six runs from his maiden double century. Agarwal has displayed control aggression and led India in the second session despite the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli. IND - 407/3 in 112 overs
That's a huge wicket. Senuran Muthusamy gets Virat Kohli's wicket. Kohli is absolutely stunned. That one gripped on the surface and hit Kohli's toe end of the bat. Kohli departs for 20. IND - 377/3 in 102.1 overs
There is no stopping Mayank Agarwal. The Indian opener reaches his 150. Agarwal has been magnificent in this Test. Virat Kohli is trying to settle himself in. He is batting on 15. IND - 352/2 in 97 overs
Virat Kohli gets off the mark with a boundary off Vernon Philander. The South African seamer has been impressive in the second session. IND - 332/2 in 91 overs
Vernon Philander beats Cheteshwar Pujara, gets his wicket on the first ball after the lunch break. Philander is doing the damage with the second new ball. Pujara out for 6. IND - 324/2 in 88.1 overs
Despite the wicket of Rohit Sharma, India dominate South Africa in the first session of day two. Mayank Agarwal is batting on 138 whereas Cheteshwar Pujara is new to the crease and batting on 6. The Indian batsmen have been cautious after the second new ball was taken. IND - 324/1 in 88 overs
After hitting Keshav Maharaj for a boundary and a six, Rohit Sharma gets stumped off the last ball of the over. Faf du Plessis' plan to persist with the old ball works. Rohit departs for 176, his second-highest Test score. IND - 317/1 in 82 overs
The 300 partnership completed in the 80th over. This is India's third-highest opening partnership in Test cricket. Also, this is the second-highest opening partnership against South Africa overall. The second new ball is due now. IND - 300/0 in 80 overs
No pressure created by Keshav Maharaj. Inconsistent line and length did not do him a favour. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal's partnership is now the third-highest opening partnership by an Indian pair in Test cricket.
This is now India's highest partnership for any wicket against South Africa. The previous record belonged to Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid who shared a 268-run partnership for the second wicket in 2008 playing at Chennai. This was the same Test where Sehwag got a triple hundred.
One reverse sweep shot each for a boundary from Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma's bat. The new ball will be due in four overs. The opening pair has now adopted the attacking mode as there is barely any assistance for spinners on Day 2 Vizag pitch. IND - 274/0 in 76 overs
Rohit Sharma gets to his second Test 150 from 224 deliveries. Rohit's highest score in Test cricket is 177 which he scored on debut. Will he go on to hit his maiden Test ton. IND - 265/0
So far, the first session has belonged to India. Rohit Sharma is batting on 149 and Mayank Agarwal is batting on 112. With two chances missed, the South Africans are looking for a miracle delivery to break this partnership. IND - 264/0
Mayank Agarwal completes his ton. It's his maiden Test ton. He took 204 balls and hit 13 fours and 2 sixes. First time ever an Indian opening pair has hit hundreds against South Africa. Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal both have managed to hit hundreds. Last time, Gambhir and Sehwag had a 218-run stand and only Sehwag could hit a ton. Gambhir was out for 96.
Two chances for Rohit Sharma. After a catch drop, Rohit now narrowly escaped a runout. Had it been a direct hit, Rohit would have been returning back to the pavilion. Agarwal smashed the cut, the man at point dived and parried the ball away to deep cover. Agarwal thought of taking a second and Rohit responded. But in the end, Rohit had to dive in and Maharaj also failed to collect the throw properly.
Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal break Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag's record of highest opening partnership. The record of the highest opening partnership by any team against South Africa belongs to England's Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook who scored 359 in 1948. Will the Indian duo break this record?
Quinton de Kock drops Rohit Sharma's catch. That's a huge mistake by the South African wicketkeeper. Rohit is known to capitalise on dropped catches. Vernon Philander robbed of his first wicket. The first opportunity Philander managed to create goes down. IND - 219/0
With oddball bouncing low, Vernon Philander is causing a few problems for Indian openers. Keshav Maharaj is trying to put a lid of runs as he bowls a maiden over. IND - 214/0
Surprisingly, Keshav Maharaj bowls from the other end. Maybe Faf du Plessis wants Kagiso Rabada to be fresh when he takes the second new ball which will be due in 19 overs. Just one single from the over. IND - 207/0
Rohit Sharma hits first runs on Day 2, a boundary off the second ball of the first session. Vernon Philander had something to say to Rohit at the end of the over. IND - 206/0
Even though rain is likely to interrupt play at Vizag once again, the first session of Day Two will start on time.
Hello and welcome to India vs South Africa first Test, Day 2 live blog. Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal need 17 more runs to break Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir's record of highest opening partnership against South Africa. Let's hope the rain does not play spoilsport again. Also, wet outfield may cause a little delay.