Kohli’s 21st Test ton gives Indians hope Chin music back to haunt the tail
SECOND TEST Skipper’s 153 at Centurion is his second century in South Africa
under pressure before they reached 60/2 at tea.
South Africa were 88 runs with the final session to come.
Gaining a slim lead, South Africa came out to bat on an eased out pitch under the baking sun, but Bumrah’s ability to skid the ball in left them wobbling at 3/2.
Local boy Aiden Markram, who made 94 in the first innings, anticipated Bumrah’s short delivery to rise, but it jagged back to trap him plumb in
front. partnership between Kohli and Ashwin, who scored a classy 38 before falling to the second new ball.
CAUGHT NAPPING
This was after Hardik Pandya threw away his wicket after being run out to a direct hit while trying to regain his crease.
Pandya was callous to assume that Vernon Philander -- not one of the better fielders – won’t aim for the stumps after Kohli turned down a non-existent single. Ambling back, Pandya didn’t realise he was in danger.
However, replays showed Pandya was within the crease but in the air, and had not grounded the bat, when Philander hit his stumps.
But Ashwin’s arrival proved useful. Having just completed his 21st Test century, Kohli was seeking a partnership that would put some pressure on South Africa.
Ashwin was up to the task. His duel with Kagiso Rabada provided an interesting sub plot to what has been a fascinating Test so far. ball was taken after the 81st over, Ashwin’s next edge carried to skipper Faf du Plessis at second slip.
BRILLIANT KOHLI
Kohli resumed from where he had left on Sunday. Two consecutive boundaries off Lungi Ngidi, an edge past gully followed by a crunching front-foot drive through covers got him into the 90s.
He raised his hundred with a tap to midwicket for two runs, though the second, interrupting his celebrations, came after an overthrow.
That he was completely in control of his batting was evident in how he walked into Vernon Philander to drive him for a sublime boundary. He chalked up his highest score in South Africa but didn’t get enough support at the other end.
Only Ishant Sharma hung around for 20 deliveries, allowing Kohli to cross 150 and get India past the 300-run mark before the India captain fell, hoisting a catch to the deep.
It was an unwritten pact among fast bowlers that bouncers would be reserved to test batsmen and not each other. This India-South Africa series though, it looks like the gloves are off as tail-enders have been subjected to a barrage of shortpitched deliveries.
On Monday, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami fell to the rising delivery while R Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah took blows as a result of concerted effort from the South Africa pacers to dish out chin music to the lower order. Kagiso Rabada welcomed Ashwin to the crease with three nasty bouncers, the last of which was still rising when it hit his left thumb, leaving the off-spinner grimacing. He needed the magic spray to continue.
Bumrah was hit on the helmet by a Morne Morkel bouncer after he took his eyes off the ball. But he should have expected it, having tried to bounce out Morkel in Cape Town. Even Mohammed Shami had bowled short at Dale Steyn, prompting hostile roars from the stands at Newlands.
Peppering tailenders with bouncers used to be the thing with the West Indies pace quartet before it died out in the 1990s. In recent days though, teams have revived that strategy, be it here or in Australia where players, present and former, had a heated debate on the use of short-pitched bowling at the lower order during the Ashes series.
Former England captain Michael Atherton, in his Times column, was the first to draw attention to the issue after James Anderson was hit on the helmet in the Boxing Day Test. However, it has had little effect on the pacers’ mindset.
In Newlands, Rabada and Morkel both bowled from around the wicket with a short leg and leg gully. The tactic and field placements were repeated at Centurion.
It might look unfair but fast bowlers have accepted this is the reality. Rabada admitted some time back that it was a fair tactic to get the tail-enders out. “I think the golden days are gone where there was a fast bowlers’ truce,” Rabada said during the Newlands Test.
“I don’t know if it would be introduced again. But obviously tailenders are not good at short balls and it’s just a tactic to get them out. Sometimes there could be blood for you but it is just a tactic. Well, you have to expect it and go out and face the music and you are going to dish it out.”
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