After an embarrassing result against South Africa in the Test opener in Johannesburg, Team India led by Rohit Sharma switched gears across all aspects and deservedly got themselves on the front foot in the second Test in Cape Town. The tourists who played right into the hands of the hosts in the first Test approached the second Test with a better frame of mind. Rightly so, they were able to contain the hosts, more often than not.
India bundled out the hosts for just 55 runs, a shocking performance from South Africa at their den, which no one saw that coming. Mohammed Siraj turned up the ante and registered 6/15 in the first innings. India responded with 153 runs. At one stage they were at 153/4 but a lapse of concentration and a shoddy batting technique triggered a batting collapse.
Virat Kohli gives an amazing reaction to Nandre Burger after the latter sledged him
South Africa’s bright pace prospect, Nandre Burger had an impressive Test debut against India in Centurion. The left-arm paceman picked up three wickets in the first innings before following it up with four wickets in the second innings. The 28-year-old fast bowler made the headlines after he tried to intimidate Virat Kohli in the first innings.
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The incident started when Virat Kohli defended Burger’s delivery and the bowler tried to sledge Kohli in the act of deliberately trying to fake throw a ball at Kohli. Meanwhile, the former Indian skipper remained calm as he simply smiled at the bowler. Kohli’s amazing reaction towards Nandre Burger was caught on camera and the video clip of the same went viral on social media.
Nandre Burger’s aggressiveness came after the former England cricketer, Kevin Pietersen advised the pacer to not smile in the batsman’s face and wanted him to be more aggressive. It seems that Nandre Burger has taken Pietersen’s advice seriously and he has indeed shown a bit of aggression to his bowling in the hope of making a lasting impact in Test cricket.
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Talking about the second Test match, South Africa set up a target of 79 for the tourists. Meanwhile, India chased down the target without any fuss as they won the game by 7 wickets. Notably, this is also India’s historic Test win at Cape Town and the two-match Test series ended in a 1-1 draw.