India 211 all out (Sudharsan 62, Rahul 56, Burger 3-30) vs South Africa
Maharaj was the last thought on any mind when the new ball zipped around. By comparison with Johannesburg, the ball swung much less – 0.6 degrees on an average in the first 10 to 1.3 degrees at Wanderers – but there was appreciable seam movement available, which made batting difficult. If anything, the slightly older ball seemed to be moving more off the deck as it did in B Hendricks’ spell as the first-change bowler.
Burger corrected his length beautifully after being driven for four first ball, trapping Ruturaj Gaikwad lbw immediately. Tilak Varma’s stay at No. 3 was a troubled one, but was part of a 42-run second-wicket stand. Burger had to go off the field because of a nosebleed after three overs, but B Hendricks and Lizaad Williams remained just as challenging. When Burger came back, his extra pace proved to be decisive as he got Varma on the hook for 10 off 30 balls.
Sudharsan, who had been playing the ball late and not been missing out on any half-volleys, began to be troubled now as B Hendricks found a good length and the ball seamed either way. India were 54 for 2 in 15 overs when South Africa went to the second string of bowlers. Sudharsan slog-swept Maharaj for a six, Rahul pulled Wiaan Mulder for successive fours, and 37 came off seven overs before Aiden Markram went back to Williams.
In the third over of his second spell, Williams produced an unplayable delivery that kicked off just short of a length and took Sudharsan’s glove to dismiss him for 62 off 83. At 113 for 3 in the 27th over, India still needed one more partnership before they could think of accelerating but Sanju Samson played B Hendricks on after looking good once again.
Despite having lost four wicket, Rahul and debutant Rinku Singh looked to attack before the 40th over, which got them 31 runs in 22 balls, but ended in Rahul cutting Burger straight to backward point. This is when Maharaj came into his own, slowing the ball down and using the drift from the wind to have Rinku stumped and Kuldeep Yadav caught on the sweep.
A couple of connected slogs from Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan took India past 200 but they batted only 46.2 overs despite going into the last 20 overs with seven wickets in hand.