Dean Elgar guides SA to series levelling victory at Wanderers

History made at Wanderers as South Africa defeated India by a margin of 7 wickets! The ground may be located in South Africa but India are yet to lose a Test match at this venue. Out of the 5 matches played at this venue between these two teams earlier, India had won 2 games while the other 3 were drawn! Elgar did put an end to that record guiding his team to a 7-wicket victory on Day 4!

Image Credits: The Indian Express

KL Rahul stepped in as captain of the Indian team as Virat Kohli was ruled out of the Test match with an upper back spasm! It all went well for Rahul until Siraj sustained an injury in the first innings. Bumrah too had a bad game with the ball bagging just one wicket in the whole match!

India put on a horrible show with the bat on Day 1 after electing to bat first. Captain KL Rahul (50) and Ravichandran Ashwin (46) made crucial contributions with the bat as India got to just 202 runs in the first innings. Marco Jansen was impressive with the ball in the first innings and backed it up with 4 wickets in India's first innings while Duanne Olivier and Kagiso Rabada bagged 3 wickets each!

South Africa managed a take a 27-run lead in the first innings as Keegan Petersen (62) and Temba Bavuma (52) scored half-centuries. The highlight of this innings was Shradul Thakur who registered bowling figures of 7/61. He stepped up with the ball in the absence of injured Siraj and it all went in favor of him with the responsibility on his shoulders! And Shardul did really well with the ball.

Though India lost Rahul before waiving off the lead, Cheteshwar Pujara (53) and Ajinkya Rahane (58) played positive cricket to give India a fighting total. The 111-run stand between this duo for the third wicket was the highlight for India in this innings! Hanuma Vihari remained unbeaten on 40* as India got to 266 all out. Shardul Thakur (28 off 24) scored some quick runs in this innings!

South Africa were set a target of 240 runs to win this Test match which also helps them level the series. And challenge accepted says the home team and their captain! The home team approached the target really well as they did it in big partnerships! 47, 46, 82, 68* - South Africa stitched four partnerships as they romped home with 7 wickets in hand!

Dean Elgar played a captain's knock in the middle taking his team home with an unbeaten 96* runs! Though none of their batsmen scored the fifties, they all batted around Elgar and were crucial in building partnerships! Elgar has also been adjudged as Player of the Match for his valiant effort with the bat.

The 3-match Test series is now level 1-1 with one more match to go! India won the first Test match at Centurion while South Africa won the second Test match at Wanderers. The third and final Test match of the series will be played at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town from Tuesday (Jan 11).

Brief Scores: South Africa - 229 all out (Keegan Petersen - 62, Shardul Thakur - 7/61) & 243/3 (Dean Elgar - 96*, Ravichandran Ashwin - 1/26) defeated India - 202 all out (KL Rahul - 50, Marco Jansen - 4/31) & 266 all out (Ajinkya Rahane - 58, Lungi Ngidi - 3/43) by a margin of 7 wickets

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