Day 2 - Wanderers: South Africa vs India - What a Remarkable Day of Test Cricket

Yesterday's Hero...Virat Kohli

Today's Hero...Vernon Philander

Not many people know that Vernon Philander started his provincial career as a batsman! When you watched him bat today to help save South Africa from a very dismal position, you might realise that he is still not a muck with bat in hand. He put on an unbeaten 67 run partnership with struggling batsman Faf du Plessis (17) for the 7th wicket to help rescue the Proteas from an embarrassing collapse (they lost 5 wickets in about 20 odd runs) at 146 for 6, to end Day 2 on 213/6. 

Philander is currently on 48 not out, but the job is not over yet. South Africa is still more than 60 runs behind the Indian first innings total of 280. Philander was furthermore the joint destroyer with the ball during this morning's first session, when together with Morne Morkel they cut through the Indian batsmen in no-time. Philander fell just short of taking his 100th test wicket, when he ended on 4 for 61, while Morkel was just as impressive with figures of 3 for 34.

The South African innings started off solid enough when they only lost Peterson for 21 early on. Smith and Amla put on a solid partnership of almost 100, when Amla was bowled by Sharma. In walked Jacques Kallis, SA's best batsman for many years, but he lasted only one ball. From there things got even worse, as the Proteas lost three wickets with the total on 130. Another two fell soon thereafter and when Philander joined Du Plessis on 146/6, it appeared as if India was going to make sure of "winning" the test on Day 2 already.

BUT...Philander had other ideas. This is why The Sports-Man do not "like" cricket, he "loves" it...it is very unpredictable and you can never be sure what will happen next! What will day 3 dish up for us? I certainly cannot wait...

India 280

South Africa 213/6 (66.0 ov)

South Africa trail by 67 runs with 4 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

Stumps - Day 2

• India in South Africa Test Series - 1st Test
• Test no. 2108 | 2013/14 season
• Played at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
• 18,19,20,21,22 December 2013 (5-day match)

South Africa 1st innings		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	GC Smith*	lbw b Khan	68		119	11	0	57.14
	AN Petersen	lbw b I Sharma	21	61	41	4	0	51.21
	HM Amla	b I Sharma	36	117	74	6	0	48.64
	JH Kallis	lbw b I Sharma	0	2	1	0	0	0.00
	AB de Villiers†	lbw b Mohammed Shami	13	32	21	1	0	61.90
	JP Duminy	c Vijay b Mohammed Shami	2	22	12	0	0	16.66
	F du Plessis	not out	17		55	1	0	30.90
	VD Philander	not out	48		76	5	0	63.15
	Extras	(lb 4, w 1, nb 3)	8
	Total	(6 wickets; 66 overs)	213	(3.22 runs per over)

To bat DW Steyn, M Morkel, Imran Tahir

Fall of wickets 1-37 (Petersen, 13.1 ov), 2-130 (Amla, 38.1 ov), 3-130 (Kallis, 38.2 ov), 4-130 (Smith, 39.3 ov),5-145 (Duminy, 44.1 ov), 6-146 (de Villiers, 44.3 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Z Khan	22	4	72	1	3.27	(1w)
	Mohammed Shami	18	3	48	2	2.66
	I Sharma	20	4	64	3	3.20	(3nb)
	R Ashwin	6	0	25	0	4.16

Day 1: Sa vs India - First Sunfoil Test at Wanderers - Report

When you look at the scorecard from Day 1 of this first test between South Africa and India, it seems as if it was a very evenly balanced day. The South African bowlers did not, apart from during the first spell of the day before lunch, manage to assert themselves as much as were expected by many. The day, according to me, belonged to Virat Kohli, who made a very patient and vital century for his team.

Kohli's 119 came off a patient 257 balls and he anchored the Indian innings for most of the day, until he threw his wicket away with a badly timed shot off Kallis. Morne Morkel was probably the pick of the Proteas bowlers and especially his first spell was electrifying, when he hit that perfect short-of-good-length spot almost with every delivery. The Indian batsmen had no answer to these Morkel deliveries and he was unlucky not to pick up more than just the one wicket. Dale Steyn showed at times why he is the number one test bowler right now, but it seemed as if he was repeatedly trying to bowl to fast, as his line was not that accurate.

 

Day 2 is going to be interesting and it will be crucial for both sides to stamp a bit of authority on the game one way or another, because it is all pretty much even-Stevens right now...!

India 255/5 (90.0 ov)

South Africa

India won the toss and elected to bat

Stumps - Day 1

• India in South Africa Test Series - 1st Test
• Test no. 2108 | 2013/14 season
• Played at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
• 18,19,20,21,22 December 2013 (5-day match)

	India 1st innings		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	M Vijay	c †de Villiers b Morkel	6	69	42	1	0	14.28
	S Dhawan	c Imran Tahir b Steyn	13	37	27	2	0	48.14
	CA Pujara	run out (Imran Tahir/Amla)	25	148	98	2	0	25.51
	V Kohli	c Duminy b Kallis	119	257	181	18	0	65.74
	RG Sharma	c †de Villiers b Philander	14	48	42	1	0	33.33
	AM Rahane	not out	43		105	7	0	40.95
	MS Dhoni*†	not out	17		46	3	0	36.95
	Extras	(lb 3, w 14, nb 1)	18
	Total	(5 wickets; 90 overs)	255	(2.83 runs per over)

To bat R Ashwin, I Sharma, Z Khan, Mohammed Shami

Fall of wickets 1-17 (Dhawan, 8.6 ov), 2-24 (Vijay, 15.1 ov), 3-113 (Pujara, 42.4 ov), 4-151 (RG Sharma, 53.2 ov),5-219 (Kohli, 75.3 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	DW Steyn	23	5	56	1	2.43	(2w)
	VD Philander	21	2	55	1	2.61
	M Morkel	19	10	27	1	1.42	(1nb, 2w)
	JH Kallis	14	4	37	1	2.64	(2w)
	Imran Tahir	8	0	47	0	5.87
	JP Duminy	5	0	30	0	6.00

At Last - South Africa vs India at Wanderers: First Test Team News

It has been a week or so since the last ODI was played between South Africa and India, and for a while The Sports-Man forgot completely about cricket. However, we are back at the Wanderers in Johannesburg for the start of the first Test. Because of the shortened tour, only two tests have been scheduled, which makes this first test crucial for both teams. 

Team selection is vital on both sides and an excellent start is required if any one of the teams wants to get the early advantage. The news is that South Africa has included Imran Tahir to play for them, which may be a surprise to many, seeing that SA has always preferred playing only seam bowlers up on the Highveld. But, Tahir has been in excellent form and I think it is the right option. 

SA Team:

Graeme Smith (captain), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morné Morkel, Imran Tahir.

(Likely) Indian Team:

Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma.

Play is starting at 10h30

Proteas vs India ODI: South Africa Record a Resounding Victory

• South Africa won by 141 runs

• RSA - 358/4 (50.0 Ovs)

  IND - 217-all out (41.0 Ovs)

South Africa's national cricket team, the Proteas managed to beat India by a massive 141 runs after they sent a very strong message to the visitors with a confident batting display after losing the toss of the first ODI at the Wanderers, and was asked to bat first on a typical greenish-looking "Bullring" pitch. Man of the Match Quinton De Kock (135), Hashim Amla ( 65), AB de Villiers (77 ), and JP Duminy (59* ) cashed in on the run-feast. 

With the ball, Steyn (3/15) and McClaren (3/49) were the main destroyers. 

South Africa vs India Updated Scorecard - First ODI, Wanderers, Johannesburg

South Africa has posted a challenging score first up at the Wanderers, in the first of three ODI's against India. Typically, the "Bullring" delivered spectacular batting displays, especially from openers Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla who recorded a first wicket stand of more than 150 runs, before Amla lost his wicket. Young, but extremely talented De Kock became the first South African to score two ODI centuries before turning 21. He went on to record his highest ODI score to date (135) and fully entertained a packed Wanderers stadium. hitting the Indian bowlers at will to all corners of the Wanderers oval. 

http://m4.cricbuzz.com

• South Africa Innings - 358/4
• South Africa Innings
• Batsman

  R(B)

  4s

  6s

  SR

  Amla	65(88)	5	1	73.86
  b Shami

  de Kock(wk)	135(121)	18	3	111.57
  c & b Kohli

  Kallis	10(14)	2	0	71.43
  c R Jadeja b Shami

  de Villiers(c)	77(47)	6	4	163.83
  b Shami

  Duminy	59(29)	2	5	203.45
  not out

  D Miller	5(2)	1	0	250.00
  not out

• Extras 7

  (lb 2, w 4, nb 1)

• Total: 358

  (50 ovrs, 4 Wkts)  RR 7.16

• Did not bat:

  Ryan McLaren, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe
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• Bowling
• Bowler	O	M	R	W
  Mohit Sharma	10	0	82	0
  Bhuvneshwar	9	0	68	0
  Shami	10	1	68	3
  Ashwin	10	0	58	0
  Ravindra Jadeja	8	0	58	0
  Raina	1	0	7	0
  Kohli	2	0	15	1

• Fall Of Wickets

  Wkt	Runs	Ovs	Batsman
  1	152	29.3	Amla
  2	172	32.5	Kallis
  3	247	41.5	de Kock
  4	352	49.3	de Villiers