Pandya stands tall for India

Hardik Pandya survived two chances to breathe defiance into India’s reply with a spirited innings on the second day of the first test against South Africa at Newlands on Saturday.

Allrounder Pandya was dropped by Dean Elgar in the gully off Dale Steyn when he was 15 and should have been stumped by Quinton de Kock off Keshav Maharaj when he was 69.

Instead he was 81 not out at tea, which the visitors reached on 185/7 — 101 runs behind South Africa’s first innings of 286.

Pandya came to the crease when India slumped to 76/5, the first turn of a tumble in which, in 33 balls, they lost three wickets for 16 runs and teetered to 92/7.

The slide was halted in an unbroken stand of 93 with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had scored an unbeaten 24 from the 65 deliveries he had faced by tea.

Pandya showed no such reticence to attack, hitting 13 fours and a six off the 68 balls bowled to him.

India lost three wickets in the 11 overs they faced on Friday evening, and considering the home side’s top order was dismissed in the first five overs on Friday it seemed a similar slide awaited on Saturday morning.

Instead, South Africa toiled for 17.2 overs and more than an hour before they claimed the only wicket of the session — Kagiso Rabada trapped Rohit Sharma in front in the eight over before lunch.

Sharma spent more than an hour-and-a-half and 59 balls on his 11, which captured India’s disciplined approach in the face of South Africa’s miserly bowling.

India resumed on 28/3, and the score stayed unmoved for four consecutive maidens sent down by Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander.

In all 10 of the 25 overs bowled in the session were scoreless and only 48 runs were scored.

But India would have been satisfied that they didn’t lose more than one wicket. 

That changed with the first ball after lunch, which Cheteshwar Pujara slashed a Philander outswinger to gully to end a stay of more than two-and-a-half hours in which he faced 92 balls and scored 26.

In his next over Philander had Ravichandran Ashwin spectacularly caught by Quinton de Kock, who dived in front of first slip.

Seventeen balls after that Wriddhiman Saha was trapped in front by Steyn, who with that strike moved to within three wickets of overtaking Shaun Pollock as South Africa’s leading wicket-taker.

But midway through the last over before tea Steyn, who is playing his first test since fracturing a shoulder in November 2016, left the field limping.

Team management have yet to explain his exit.

Philander took 3/33 and Steyn 2/51.