Markram falls as South Africa reach 82 for one in second India test

South Africa made a near-perfect start to the second test against India as they reached 82 without loss before Aiden Markram was bowled by Jasprit Bumrah with two balls of the session remaining at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday morning to leave the tourists on 82 for one.

On a pitch offering a generous turn for the spinners, as expected, openers Markram and Ryan Rickelton displayed accomplished defensive technique against wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and offspinner Washington Sundar, having survived the opening spells from fast bowlers Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj.

Markram was given a life on just four when KL Rahul dropped a regulation catch at second slip off Bumrah, but it was the only blemish of an otherwise perfect session for the tourists after captain Temba Bavuma had won a potentially crucial toss and chosen to bat first.

Rickelton (35*) drove Siraj for consecutive boundaries at the end of the 11th over to give the innings some momentum, and Markram collected two more off seamer Nitish Reddy in the 17th with a leg glance to fine leg and a sumptuous drive through extra cover.

Markram repeated the shot against Sundar shortly before the tea break and Rickelton, who survived a confident lbw shout against Kuldeep, whipped the same bowler through mid-wicket for another boundary in the penultimate over before the break.

But Bumrah was reintroduced to the attack for the final over of the morning and produced a beauty which ripped through Markram’s defences to dismiss him for 38 from 81 balls with five fours.

Play began at 9:00am local time, with the 20-minute ‘tea’ break coming after the first session and the 40-minute lunch break after the second session to maximise the limited daylight in the east of the country at this time of year.

The home side replaced injured captain, Shubman Gill, with Sai Sudharsan in their starting XI and dropped left arm spinner Axar Patel for seam bowling allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.

South Africa made one change to the starting XI, which stunned the home side with a 30-run victory in the first test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata last week when they defended a fourth innings target of 124 by bowling India out for just 93 in the fourth innings.

Fast bowling allrounder, Corbin Bosch, was replaced by left arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy.

INDIA: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant (captain/wkt), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj

SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (captain), Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne (wkt), Marco Jansen, Senuran Muthusamy, Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj.