India Faces Series Defeat at Home Against South Africa

India’s cricket team is on the brink of losing a second home series in a row. They left day three of the second Test in Guwahati in serious trouble, having been skittled out for a meager 201 runs. This loss follows a disheartening 3-0 loss to New Zealand last year. It broke a remarkable 12-year unbeaten run on home turf in every Test series played. South Africa goes out in front in this best-of-three series. India now faces the prospect of another embarrassment on home soil.

The match turned into a lost cause as India gave away the mammoth first innings lead of 288 runs. South Africa’s batting lineup gave the performance of a lifetime. Muthusamy’s 109 was an impressive score, while Marco Jansen contributed a remarkable career best 93 runs. Their cumulative efforts helped South Africa reach a formidable first innings total of 489. This meant that it was left to India to navigate an extremely difficult task.

Yashasvi Jaiswal continued to impress and was India’s top-scorer, making 58 runs. His dismissal was peculiar as he was trapped by Marco Jansen off spinner Simon Harmer’s ball. Once Jaiswal departed, the Indian unit struggled to build on that initiative. The partnership between Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav was a slow accumulation and not very high on runs, forming only 72 runs. Sundar’s innings came to an end when he mistimed an edge off Harmer. He became the fifth victim of Aiden Markram during that innings.

Marco Jansen was the chief architect in today’s dismembering of India’s fragile batting lineup, taking six wickets for a mere 48 runs. He was the architect of four straight middle-order wickets. This spectacular success removed all expectations of a massive comeback by the Indian contingent. Jansen finished off the Indian innings by taking Kuldeep Yadav’s and Jasprit Bumrah’s wickets in a double-strike. This impressive performance helped South Africa to further control the game.

South Africa are in the driver’s seat since they lead by 314 runs. They’ve already put together 26 runs without losing a wicket in their second innings. What India must do better against this bite-sized format If they fail, they will have to live with the disappointment of losing another home series in a little more than a year’s time. As of this writing in early October, India has just defeated the West Indies tied two-match series. Their ongoing woes at the hands of South Africa are a more acute buttress to this recent triumph.