JOHANNESBURG: Things are getting intriguing at the Wanderers. The balance has definitely tilted more in favour of the seamers as batsmen continue to come and go, except the odd ones who are brave enough to take the threat off their minds and hang in and score. Two days into the Test, and 21 wickets have fallen for 430 runs.
It is impossible to not get excited when a pitch is rolled with all the right ingredients — pace, bounce, seam — for a pacer. On wickets like this, the job is to land the ball in the right areas and let the pitch do the rest. It is not different to a spinner bowling on a rank turner, where batsmen are always playing a guessing game.
The Wanderers wicket is definitely the sort where bowlers would like to bowl endlessly. Before play began on Thursday, the Indian bowlers were warming up on one of the adjacent strips, bowling mostly fuller lengths and short of good length deliveries, with a single stump to aim at. South Africa knew India would attack in the morning session, and although Bhuvneshwar Kumar got Dean Elgar early, it proved to be one of the most annoying sessions for the visitors. Barring Bhuvneshwar, the rest got carried away by the surface as they sprayed the ball all over and were found guilty of bowling too full and short.
“There is always the possibility of getting carried away when you see a wicket like this. As a bowler you know there is assistance from the pitch and you tend to try a lot harder in search of wickets. There is plenty of movement, so the message from the dressing room was simple, just to keep it around good length area and target the stumps. But the temptation to try for more was always there,” said Jasprit Bumrah, who erred in line and length in the first session as South Africa lost only more wicket — nightwatchman Kagiso Rabada (30) at the stroke of lunch.
Bhuvneshwar, though, was head and shoulders above the rest. Growing up in Meerut and playing for Uttar Pradesh, he has not played much cricket on wickets like this in Lucknow and Kanpur. Here in Wanderers, he showed a masterclass in swing bowling.
Like Vernon Philander on Day 1, Bhuvneshwar was on the money, consistently making the batsmen play, as he moved the ball both ways. Sadly, with none of the others complementing him from the other end in the first session, he had to be content with only one wicket.
Post lunch, a different India took the field. The wayward lengths disappeared and so did the short-pitched ones. Irrespective of whether it was Bhuvneshwar or Bumrah or Ishant Sharma or Mohammed Shami or even Hardik Pandya, the only ones that came out of their hands were full deliveries inducing batsmen to play the drive and short of good length ones that would move either way.
The best passage of play saw Bhuvneshwar set up AB de Villiers. For two overs, the seamer kept delivering out-swingers as the South African edged a couple through the cordon. Then came the in-swinger, which landed perfectly on a driving length, and lured by the length De Villiers went for it, only to miss completely as the ball hit the middle and off.
India needed someone to support Bhuvneshwar from the other end now, and Bumrah rose to the challenge. He bowled a length that would ideally hit the top of off stump, and with an in-swinger that would cause any batsman trouble, he removed Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock as South Africa from 3/92 slipped to 125/6.
With Hashim Amla proving immovable, India targetted the other end, but like they did in the morning session, bad habits crept in. They bowled freebies to Philander, who made a vital 35, including five boundaries as the hosts smelt a lead. But Test cricket does funny things and having managed only to beat the edge on multiple occasions, the Indian bowlers had a bit of luck from thereon as the rest of the wickets fell without adding much.
Amla got out flicking, while Philander was dismissed hooking. Andile Phehlukwayo missed a full toss that thudded onto his pads, and Lungi Ngidi was out caught down the leg as Bumrah picked up his maiden five-wicket haul. India now have a lead of 42 with nine wickets in hand, and just the way the series has panned out so far, it is heading for another see-saw day on Friday.
SCORECARD
India (1st innings): 187
South Africa (1st innings, overnight 6/1): Elgar c Parthiv b Bhuvneshwar 4, Rabada c Rahane b Ishant 30, Amla c Pandya b Bumrah 61, De Villiers b Bhuvneshwar 5, Du Plessis b Bumrah 8, De Kock c Patel b Bumrah 8, Philander c Bumrah b Shami 35, Phehlukwayo lbw Bumrah 9, Morkel 9 batting, Ngidi c Patel b Bumrah 0.
Extras (lb 14, w 9) 23. Total (all out, 65.5 overs) 194. Fall of wickets: 2-16, 3-80, 4-92, 5-107, 6-125, 7-169, 8-175, 9-194.
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar 19-9-44-3, Bumrah 18.5-2-54-5, Ishant 14-2-33-1, Shami 12-0-46-1, Pandya 2-0-3-0.
India (2nd innings): Vijay 13 batting, Parthiv c Markram b Philander 16, Rahul 16 batting. Extras (lb 4) 4.
Total (1 wicket, 17 overs) 49.
Fall of wickets: 1-17.
Bowling: Philander 5-2-11-1, Rabada 6-1-19-0, Morkel 4-1-9-0, Ngidi 2-0-6-0.