South Africa V India, Day 4, Lunch Report: South Africa Bat Sensibly in Opening Session

The opening session of the 4^th day’s play between India and South Africa at the BIDVEST Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg belonged to the hosts as they came close to the target set b the hosts. However, the match is still in the balance given the itch conditions, but the heavy roller has affected the pitch to a certain extent as it has become more even and the batsmen are finding it relatively easy to cope with the rising deliveries.

The match was called off 19 minutes before the scheduled close yesterday after Dean Elgar was struck on the head by a rising delivery from Jasprit Bumrah. It wasn’t the only time a batsman was hit on the body as Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay too had to deal with several blows. There was a half an hour’s delay for the day to proceed due to wet outfield conditions.

South Africa started off on 17/1 having lost opener Aiden Markram yesterday to a ferocious delivery from Mohammad Shami which took off after pitching. The Indian bowlers were unable to bag a single wicket in the session so far despite bowling well. Jasprit Bumrah bowled a couple of loose deliveries which was punished by Hashim Amla.

Both the batsmen looked in command of proceedings and dealt with the bounce and pace pretty sensibly. They were beaten a few times, but you expect that in a pitch like this. Amla struck some delightful shots and carried on from where he left in the 1^st innings. He was South Africa’s top scorer in the 1^st innings with 61.

Elgar also struck a couple of boundaries. The southpaw was troubled on occasions but played bravely and went into lunch without giving away his wicket. When lunch was taken, South Africa was 69/1 with Amla batting on 27 and Elgar batting on 29.

Brief Scores

India 187 all-out (Cheteshwar Pujara 50, Virat Kohli 54, Kagiso Rabada 3/39)

South Africa 194 all-out (Hashim Amla 61, Jasprit Bumrah 5/54, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/24)

India 2^nd innings 247 all-out (Ajinkya Rahane 48, Virat Kohli 41, Bhvneshar Kumar 33, Morne Morkel 3/47, Vernon Philander 3/61)

South Africa 2^nd innings 69/1 9Hashim Amla 27*, Dean Elgar 29*, Mohammed Shami 1/15)

South Africa need 172 runs to win