India Struggles Against South Africa’s Spin Attack on Day Three of Second Test
On day three of the second Test in Guwahati, spinner Simon Harmer put on a remarkable performance, leaving India in a tough spot at 102-4 at the morning break. India is trailing South Africa by 387 runs, with the visitors having posted an impressive 489 runs in their first innings on a pitch favorable to batting.
At the break, Indian captain Rishabh Pant was on six runs, while Ravindra Jadeja had yet to score. Due to the early sunsets in the northeastern city, play starts half an hour earlier, and the tea break occurs before lunch.
Having won the first Test of the series, South Africa is aiming for their first series win in India since 2000, when Hansie Cronje’s team achieved the feat.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, who lost his overnight partner KL Rahul in the first hour, managed to reach his 13th Test half-century. Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj dismissed Rahul for 22 runs with a delivery that turned sharply, leading to an edge caught by Aiden Markram at slip.
Although both Maharaj (1-29) and Harmer (2-39) managed to turn the ball, Jaiswal brought some aggression to the bowling attack, hitting seven fours and a six before falling for 58 after mistiming a shot to backward point off Harmer’s bowling.
In subsequent overs, Harmer also had Sai Sudharsan caught at mid-wicket for 15 runs, and Marco Jansen added to India’s woes by trapping Dhruv Jurel for a duck.
South Africa, the reigning World Test champions, took an early lead with a big first-innings score, with Senuran Muthusamy top-scoring with 109 runs.
As the match progresses, India will have to fight hard to stay in the contest.
