Fighting against odds, A B de Villiers hit afine 85 to rescue South Africa from a collapse as visitors made 177for 7 at tea against India on the opening day of the second test matchplayed at M Chinnaswamy Stadium here today.
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Ashwin, who took eight wickets in the first Test, jolted South Africa with a double burst in his first over.
De Villiers got off the mark with five runs, courtesy of an overthrow by Indian captain Virat Kohli that raced to the fence.
The first Test saw lukewarm response from spectators and the captain took a dig at critics stating that it is the result-oriented wickets that makes the crowd throng the ground.
Earlier, the Indian openers had put the hosts in a commanding 80-0 at stumps after bowling out South Africa for 214 on the opening day of the Test match.
Vijay is batting on 28 while Dhawan is on 45.
India will welcome back premier fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who missed the Mohali match to serve out a one-Test ban for misconduct during the recent Sri Lankan tour.
The Indian skipper is expected to play three spinners – R Ashwin, Amit Mishra and all-rounder Ravidra Jadeja – in the Starting XI. This will be in stark contrast to the Mohali Test where India’s spin bowlers nearly single-handedly won the game for the team.
Both Ashwin and Jadeja bagged four wickets each while Varun Aaron picked the only wicket of Hashim Amla with a beauty of a delivery.
“It is a nice feeling to see two professionals building a partnership and it’s good to realise you have two guys who know how to score runs and who know what they are doing out in the middle”, Kohli said.
With Steyn and Philander missing out, Kyle Abbott is in line for a call-up and the right-armer will have to step up his game and provide much-needed support in his role as the third seamer.
Faf du Plessis (0) wanted to use his feet as Ashwin altered the length but as he came down and tried to whip one, Cheteshwar Pujara at short-leg took a reflex catch crouching low.
India might have misread the conditions a little, but they certainly did not have enough time to fret over it. This was only the 20th time in 246 Tests in India that a side had chose to field. J.P. Duminy and Dane Vilas did not last long before Jadeja claimed the prized wicket of de Villiers who was caught by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha while attempting a big hit. The Chennai off-spinner struck the first blow when left-handed opener van Zyl was trapped leg bofore with a straight delivery.
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Vijay got a reprieve on 21, though, when Imran Tahir spilled a simple catch off Morne Morkel’s bowling at square leg.
