South Africa vs India 2018: 2nd Test Day 2: 5 things we learnt from the day
The much-anticipated second day of this second Test was an exciting one. India managed to bowl South Africa out for 335, just minutes before the lunch interval. Faf du Plessis’ 63 helped the hosts reach that score whereas Ravichandran Ashwin and Ishant Sharma scalped out the Proteas lower-order.
After a good start, India lost two quick wickets but Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay steadied the ship for some time. But wickets at regular intervals meant South Africa kept plugging away and just about managed to nose ahead in this Test.
#5 India continue to drop catches
When the play on the second day began, South Africa were 269/6 and India needed to skittle out the hosts quickly. They had already dropped a couple catches on the first day and that allowed Hashim Amla (who was let off on 14 and 30) to score 82.
India started off very well on the second morning. They didn’t give away too many runs.
However, the last over of the first hour saw a lot of things happen. Kagiso Rabada had been blocking pretty well against the pacers but was struggling against Ashwin. In the 104th over of the innings (bowled by Ashwin), India dropped two chances of consecutive deliveries.
First, it was Kohli who dropped a low and a tough chance at slip. Then, it was Pandya at cover who dropped a sitter. But it was Shami who charged from short third man and that resulted in Pandya getting distracted.
The third drop was a few overs later and it was again off Ashwin. This time it was Parthiv Patel who dropped a straightforward chance. And that made it the third drop of the session (and fifth of the innings).