South Africa aim to stay alive as India target historic series win

Overview

South Africa vs India, second Test
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
January 3-7, 10:00 am local time

South Africa will have a lot to ponder after succumbing to a heavy defeat against the visitors at their fortress in Centurion. India outclassed them in all three departments of the game. They have been dealt a further blow with the sudden retirement of Quinton de Kock from Test cricket, with Kyle Verreynne set to replace him in the side and don the gloves. Duanne Olivier could also feature in the side in place of either Wiaan Mulder or Marco Jansen to add some further firepower in the bowling department. With pace and bounce on offer aplenty in Johannesburg, South Africa will hope to make full use of the conditions on offer.

India had a brilliant start to their tour of South Africa, considered by many as their final frontier. Having yet to win a series there, India could not have hoped for a better start and will aim to clinch a historic series victory at the Wanderers. They return to the venue where they clinched a famous victory in 2018 which started the cycle of winning overseas for the current unit. Coming on the back of a professional display, the visitors are unlikely to tamper with their team combination in the second Test.

Remember the last time

On the back of a brilliant start by their openers, with KL Rahul smashing a ton, India posted a competitive score of 327 runs on the board. Mohammad Shami then took a five-for, as the visitors bowled out South Africa for 197.

The Indian batters then chipped in despite some uneven bounce on the pitch to aggregate 174 runs setting South Africa a tough target of 305 runs. Despite Dean Elgar's brilliant knock of 77, he could not get much support from the other end as South Africa were skittled out for 191, losing the contest by 113 runs.

It was an efficient performance from the Indian team who clinched the victory despite day two being completely washed off, going 1-0 up in the series.

What they said

Dean Elgar (South Africa captain):"Our batters let us down. I'd say the batting was the difference between the two sides. We'll have a little sit-down with myself and the management to strategise. Didn't do a lot of wrong things. Not all doom and gloom for us. We thrive under pressure which is a positive for us."

Virat Kohli (India captain): "Got off to the perfect start. Have to understand one day was washed out - shows how well we played. It's always a difficult place to play against SA (Centurion). The discipline that the batters showed. Winning the toss, batting first overseas is a tough challenge. Credit to Mayank and KL for the way they set it up. We knew we were in pole position with anything over 300-320. Knew the bowlers will do the job."