DAY 2: Muthusamy century leads SA to daunting 428-7
Senuran Muthusamy’s maiden test century and a dazzling half century from Marco Jansen put South Africa in complete control of the second test against India as they reached the ‘lunch’ break on an imposing 428-7 at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday morning.
Left hander Muthusamy resumed after the tea break on 56 and took his partnership with Kyle Verreynne to 88 before the Proteas wicketkeeper was stumped by Rishabh Pant for 45 charging down the wicket against Ravindra Jadeja.
Verreynne’s calm, composed innings spanned 122 balls and contained just five boundaries which was in stark contrast to the fireworks on display from Jansen who launched four sixes off the home team’s spinners and added three fours including a rasping straight drive against the wilting Jasprit Bumrah.
But Muthusamy deservedly stole the limelight in the afternoon session with a magnificent innings which has drastically reduced India’s chances of levelling the series.
Happy to trust his defence when required he was quick to send the loose balls to the boundary with ten fours and also included a couple of slog-swept sixes. Muthusamy
reached his 50 from 121 balls with six fours but accelerated in the second half of his innings to reach his century from 192 deliveries.
What a special moment for Sen 🥳🎉
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) November 23, 2025
He brings up his maiden Test ton in style 👏
📺 Stream #INDvSA on DStv: https://t.co/rM90YyQxaw pic.twitter.com/VEC3pXuOj2
There were just two moments of alarm he missed a sweep shot against Jadeja on 48 and was given out lbw. His review appeared to be based on the hope that he was outside the line of off stump but replays showed that the ball had just touched his glove before hitting the pad.
Later, on 83, he top-edged a hook shot against Bumrah but Mohammad Siraj failed to sight the ball early enough at long leg and the ball landed at his feet.
Just 69 runs were scored in the morning session but the two hours used by the seventh wicket pair were as important as the runs with the pitch almost certain to deteriorate rapidly on the final three days of the game putting a massive premium on runs scored on the first two days.
Muthusamy will resume on 107 after the break having faced 203 balls and taken his test batting average above 50 while Jansen will resume on 51 from just 57 balls.
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 in order to maximise the limited daylight in the east of the country at this time of year.
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.
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