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Twitter reactions: Dean Elgar holds fort as India inch closer towards a win in Centurion Test

December 29, 2021
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Dean Elgar, Jasprit Bumrah

On the uneven surface at Supersport Park in Centurion on Day 4, South Africa captain Dean Elgar managed to stand tall in their big chase against a top-quality Indian bowling attack in the ongoing Boxing Day Test.

In a chase of 305 runs, the Proteas lost opener Aiden Markram (1) early in the second over, bowled by Mohammad Shami. The right-armer, who bagged a five-wicket haul in the first innings, drew the first blood when he bowled a back of a length outside off delivery, which put Markram in dual thoughts about whether to leave the ball or play it. As the batter lifted his bat, the red leather took the inside edge and crashed into the stumps.

Soon, in the 15th over of South Africa’s second innings, Mohammad Siraj joined the party and got rid of Keegan Petersen, who was looking solid on 17 off 36. Siraj came a little wide of the crease and bowled a full delivery drawing the batter to play it. Petersen played across the line only to get a thick outside edge caught by Indian keeper Rishabh Pant.

After losing two wickets, Elgar and Rassie van der Dussen partnered to steady the ship. The duo went past a challenging phase of high-quality bowling and rose the hopes of South African fans before Jasprit Bumrah spoiled their party.

During the 37th over, Bumrah cleaned up van der Dussen after the batter shouldered his arms to an in-swinger that came back in sharply. Van der Dussen played 65 deliveries for his 11.

Meanwhile, Elgar smashed a gritty half-century. The Proteas captain then formed another frustrating 20-run stand for the fourth wicket, and the pair almost passed the proceedings before Bumrah yet again came for India’s rescue. The right-armer bowled a stunning yorker to get rid of nightwatchman Keshav Maharaj (20) on the last ball of the day as the hosts finished at 94/4, needing 211 runs to win with Elgar unbeaten at 52.

Earlier, the Indian batting unit struggled to face the uneven bounce, but the tourists did manage to set up a challenging 305-run target for the hosts after getting bundled out for 174 in their second innings.

Only Pant crossed the 30-run mark with his crucial run-a-ball 34, including six boundaries. KL Rahul (23), Ajinkya Rahane (20), Virat Kohli (18) and Cheteshwar Pujara (16) made some contributions to take India’s total to 174.

For the hosts, Kagiso Rabada (4/42) and Marco Jansen (4/55) bagged four wickets each, while Lungi Ngidi (2/31) picked up one scalp.

Here is how Twitter reacted:

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December 29, 2021 at 10:08PM
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