Couple of late wickets gives India the upper hand

India seized cruise control of the first test match against South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg at the end of the fourth day after picking up two important wickets few overs before the end of the day’s play. At the end of the day SA was 138 for the loss of two wickets needing another 320 runs on the last day to win the first test match. India on the other hand needs 8 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

The match is currently poised at a very crucial position and for any team to force a result in their favour the players need to give their best. SA in their second innings after being set a target of 458 had a great start, thanks to some good display of batting by both the openers-Alviro Peterson and Graeme Smith. The duo put up an opening stand of 108 runs and put the pressure back on the visitors. But a poor decision of taking a non-existing single by Graeme Smith led to the first dismissal much against the run of play. Smith (44) after flicking the ball to mid-on was running for a quick single. But Rahane, who was very quick to the ball made a direct hit to send the South African captain back to the pavilion. As Hashim Amla came on to bat, the Indian pacers began to test him with short balls. It was one of those short balls that brought his downfall. Amla (4) was trying to duck under a ball pitched in the short of good length area. But much to his misfortune it hit one of the widening cracks and kept considerably low and on its way to the keeper crashed on the off-stump. It was one of the weirdest ways of getting out and for the second time in the match that Amla went out leaving the ball.

However these two wickets could make no such impact on Alviro Peterson as he continued his brilliant performance with the bat. He played with utter confidence as his feet were moving beautifully. To save the match, Peterson, currently batting on 76, will be the man for SA. Du Plessis who came in ahead of Jacques Kallis will also have to play an important role as well.

Earlier in the day, India overnight not out batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli continued from where they left on the previous day. Pujara went on to complete his 150 before getting out edging one from Kallis to the wicket keeper. Kohli was unlucky to get out 4 short of his second hundred in the match when he edged a short and wide ball from JP Duminy to the keeper. After the loss of Pujara and Kohli India trying to pick up some quick runs kept losing wickets at regular intervals. It was some mainly because of some late assault from Zaheer Khan (29*) that India’s lead crossed the 450-run mark.

A great battle is on the cards as the two teams will be walking out of the dressing room for one final time on the last day of the first test match. An exciting day of test match cricket awaits as the world of cricket is set to witness a fierce battle between bat and ball. While India will look forward to bowl out the South Africans, the hosts on the other hand will have to bat out whole day and save the match.

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About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.