Muthusamy, Jansen put South Africa on top after India lose initiative
Muthusamy’s maiden ton, Jansen’s 93 off 91 scupper India’s chances of a turnaround after dismissing Verreyne
Guwahati: Two days gone and the last time India thought they had a real chance of gaining an upper hand in the second Test still was in the Saturday dusk when Tony de Zorzi had edged Mohammad Siraj to Rishabh Pant. Six down for 247, who would have thought South Africa would add another 252 to their overnight total? Senuran Muthusamy, Kyle Verreyne and Marco Jansen though backed themselves to not only put a price on their wickets but also make India pay through the nose. Muthusamy bagged his first Test hundred, Jansen was bowled seven runs short of what could have been his first Test hundred, but more scarring were the 247 runs South Africa scored between the three at an exhilarating pace.
Jansen’s 93 off 91, including a record seven sixes, scuppered India’s chances of a quick turnaround after dismissing Verreyne. With Muthusamy at the other end, Jansen added 97 runs in 17.4 overs to practically bat India out of the game. No team has lost a Test in India after scoring 489 till date. Another caveat: Only once since 2020 have India scored more than 489 in the second innings of a Test, against Australia on a similar pitch in Ahmedabad in 2023. India came out to bat with that fact hanging on their sketchy home record since last October, scraping to 9/0 in the fading light, trailing South Africa by 480 runs.
On pitches as flat as this, and against batters well set and intent on bunting out the bowling at the start, redemption could only have been found in an inspirational spell of bowling or imaginative captaincy. Neither happened for India. Muthusamy’s patience was match-altering as well, as he slowly started to dictate the scoring patterns. A nudge through the gaps, singles through sweeper cover, Muthuswamy was making grafting for runs ridiculously simple. Had Verreynne not given Ravindra Jadeja the charge, South Africa would have probably lost the seventh wicket much later than they actually did.
A wicket generally leads to two, especially in these circumstances. But Jansen whacked Jadeja for a six over long-on before nailing a slogsweep over deep mid-wicket for another six. Yadav wasn’t spared as well, Jansen lofting his tossed up delivery over long-on for a six, repeating the same shot in his next over to accelerate South Africa’s run rate. Muthusamy was playing the anchor for a while, but once he started hitting too, India started showing signs of panic by making the fast bowlers pitch short.
The pitch had become a belter by now but India probably missed a trick by not giving their spinners enough overs on the trot. Kuldeep Yadav, their highest wicket-taker on Saturday, bowled just 12.1 overs throughout the day, Jadeja 16, and Washington Sundar 12. The sequencing of Yadav’s spells (5-1-17-0, 1-0-7-0, 5-0-35-0, 1.1-0-5-1) too doesn’t make sense.
Jansen’s reaction to spin—trying to hit them out of the park—was perfectly in sync with what a lower order batter is expected to do. But in not trying to bait him into a catch at the deep, India ended up conceding much more than what they would have settled for in the morning. The day in the field also revealed, in the starkest manner possible, that Nitish Kumar Reddy’s position in the team should be on the basis of what he does with the bat.
The progression of South Africa’s innings too underscored their intent to read the conditions before slowly shifting gears. The first hour they scored just 28 runs, but in the next they added 41 more. The post-tea session however proved to be the most fruitful for South Africa as they scored 112 runs in 26 overs at a run rate of 4.3, losing only the wicket of Verreyne. The numbers they had stacked up by the end of the innings made for dismal reading for India. Jansen’s seven sixes is now the joint-most with Shahid Afridi (103 in Lahore, 2006) in a Test innings against India. Only twice before has Jasprit Bumrah sent down more overs in a Test innings than his 32 in this one—36 and 33 against England in Chennai 2021 and Old Trafford 2025 respectively.
That this was just the third instance that India have fielded 150 overs or more in a Test innings since January 2017 was an indicator of how much ground they have lost at home in recent years. Towards the end, India were just waiting for it to get over. Scoring at more than a run per ball, Jansen pretty much had his way in this phase, hooking Siraj for a six before driving uppishly past Bumrah for an outrageous four. With Keshav Maharaj, Jansen added 27 before dragging Yadav’s wrong’un on to his stumps. By then, South Africa had managed enough to ensure that they couldn’t be easily defeated in this Test.
