Burger’s thunderous spell gives Proteas hope, but Kohli and Rahul lurk

A triple strike from Nandre Burger in a thunderous 45-minute spell before tea kept South Africa above water, though it is India who still have firm control of the second Test that started at Newlands on Wednesday. 

After bowling the Proteas all out for 55 in the first session, India went to tea on 111/4, a lead of 56 runs with their batting ace, Virat Kohli, set to resume the final session on 20 and KL Rahul, who made a century in Centurion last week, still to get off the mark.

Burger’s burst saw India lose three wickets for 39 runs in 10 overs, laying a foundation for a path back into the match. It will be a long journey, however, after that embarrassing start to the biggest fixture on the South African cricket calendar.

South Africa’s innings of 55 lasted just 23.2 overs, leaving the bowlers with an enormous task to ensure the match doesn’t get away from the home team. 

For much of the afternoon session it looked as if that would be the case, with the Proteas bowlers, except Kagiso Rabada, performing dreadfully on a pitch that, while easier to bat on than was the case in the morning, is still providing plenty of assistance for the bowlers. 

But South Africa were only able to pick up three wickets.

Lungi Ngidi, playing his first competitive match in nearly two months, struggled with everything, while Marco Jansen and Burger, in his initial spell from the Kelvin Grove End, battled to find the right length consistently. 

With Rabada dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal early, Rohit Sharma took on Ngidi and the rest with some prodigious drives and cracking pull shots, with the South Africans unable to achieve that back-of-a-length ball Mohammad Siraj used so successfully in the morning. 

Sharma, successfully reviewed after being given out on 38, wasn’t so lucky once Burger switched to the Wynberg End and got one to bounce more off that tricky length with Marco Jansen taking a good low catch in the gully. 

Burger struck again when Shubman Gill also edged to Jansen after making 35, while Shreyas Iyer lasted two balls before edging behind to Kyle Verreynne. 

Kohli, having survived some testing deliveries from Burger, crunched some sweet drives and has shown the same level of control seen from him in the second innings in Centurion. His is the big wicket the Proteas will be chasing as they try to restore the damage done in the first session.