Ravichandran Ashwin’s haul halts Proteas

Off-spinner R Ashwin’s five-wicket haul trumped A B de Villiers’ gritty half-century as India grabbed a narrow 17-run lead after dismissing South Africa for 184 on Day 2 of the first cricket Test.

Ashwin once again became the leader of the pack, bagging his 13th Test fifer to claim 150 wickets in his 29th match. Ashwin (5-51), who had sent opener Stiaan van Zyl (5) back in the pavilion on the opening day, got the prized wickets of overnight batsmen Dean Elgar (37) and Hashim Amla (43) and followed it up by scalping Dane Vilas (1) and Imran Tahir (4). Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja also contributed with three wickets while Amit Mishra bagged two, including the all-important scalp of De Villiers.

The hosts have stretched the lead to 142 runs. It was the second-wicket pair of Murali Vijay (47) and Pujara, which played sensible cricket with a 86-run stand after Shikhar Dhawan (0) lost his wicket second time in a row without bothering the scorer. Vijay’s 105-ball toil though was brought to a disappointing end by leg-spinner Imran Tahir in the final half-hour of play. The visitors felt the absence of pace spearhead Dale Steyn, who was rested for the session as a precautionary measure for his strained groin. Skipper Hashim Amla kept juggling his pace and spin options in the final session of play but suddenly the devil in the pitch at the IS Bindra Stadium seemed to have disappeared as both Vijay and Pujara counter-attacked effectively. After Dhawan was caught at second slip in a repeat of his first-innings dismissal in the second session, Tahir gave the visitors the much-needed breakthrough with a googly that got dangerman Vijay back in the pavilion.

But it was a dismissal that was made possible by substitute fielder Temba Bavuma’s marvellous diving catch at forward short-leg to deny Vijay, who got his 1000 Test runs in his 12th game, his much-deserved fifty. Pujara though did not falter in getting his seventh Test half-century after pulling part-time spinner Dean Elgar, who became an unlikely hero on the opening day with a four-wicket haul, for a boundary. Pujara also tonked Tahir for the first six of the match in the final over of the day. 

Ravichandran Ashwin not only raced to the fastest 150 scalps in Indian Test history but also became the first man in over 100 years to bag 50 wickets after opening the bowling during the first cricket Test against South Africa. Ashwin, who had taken 45 wickets when opening the Indian bowling in Tests in the past, achieved this rare feat in 12 matches, off 1888 balls and after conceding 1018 runs.