South Africa’s pursuit of a stunning 25-year first has taken another boost on Day 2 of their second Test against India on Sunday, thanks to a maiden century from an unheralded Protea.
Resuming with the bat on 6/247 in Guwahati, the pair of Senuran Muthusamy and wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne survived the first session against the new ball on an even wicket.
The duo made the most of the odd rare delivery and batted with confidence, before the latter’s eventual departure on 45 came via a stumping off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja.
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Their 87-run partnership lasted 236 balls, and is South Africa’s second-longest ever for the seventh wicket or lower.
From there on in, it was Muthusamy who stole the show. Playing his eighth Test match, he hit his first shot of serious authority on 68, smoking Washington Sundar into the crowd over long-on for six in what had otherwise been a very calm and calculated innings.
But the arrival of Marco Jansen to the crease had evidently taken pressure off the shoulders of Muthusamy, who from there on in cruised to his maiden Test hundred — becoming the 18th Protea to make a hundred on their soil at Test level.
Jansen raised the bat for the fourth time in his 21-Test career not long after, hitting four massive sixes in the cameo.
Muthusamy is just the third South African in more than 15 years to reach three figures at Test level in India, joining Dean Elgar (160) and Quinton de Kock (111) who both reached the milestone in 2019.
Muthusamy departed for 109 in the second over of the final session on Day 2, top edging to fine leg off the bowling of Mohammed Siraj.
Tragically, Jansen fell seven runs shorts of a maiden professional hundred at the back end of Day 2, chopping on a length ball from Kuldeep Yadav that saw South Africa bowled out for 489.
His seven sixes are the equal-most by a Protea in Test cricket, a record also shared by AB de Villiers (vs Aus, 2009) and Quinton de Kock (vs WI, 2021).
India batted for 6.1 overs before bad light ended play, with the score 0/9.
Superstar Jasprit Bumrah bowled well for the hosts without huge success on Day 2, with spin the preferred option from stand-in captain Rishabh Pant across the day’s play as Yadav ended with figures of 4/115.
Every wicket as SA bowl out India | 02:02
In a stark contrast to last week’s low-scoring affair in Kolkata, all of South Africa’s first nine batters registered double-digit scores, however only Muthusamy and Jansen managed to raise the bat.
The reigning World Test champions won by 30 runs at Eden Gardens in the low-scoring affair, and are chasing their first series win in India since 2000.
Play in the north-eastern city starts 30 minutes earlier due to early sunsets, with session breaks flipped; meaning lunch is instead 20 minutes and tea is 40.
