Prepare for an exciting battle at Newlands, Cape Town, as South Africa (SA) and India (IND) square off for the second Test match of the India tour of South Africa 2023-2024. South Africa leads the series 1-0 after a spectacular victory by an innings and 32 runs in the first Test match.
After being put to bat by South Africa, India endured an early top-order collapse in the previous match. Despite this, a tenacious performance by KL Rahul, combined with partnerships from Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, helped to save the innings, resulting in a total of 245 runs.South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada and Nandre Burger made vital breakthroughs, putting pressure on India’s batting order. South Africa responded aggressively, scoring 408 runs. Dean Elgar led the effort with a stunning knock, falling 15 runs shy of a double century, and was ably supported by key contributions from Marco Jansen. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj posed threats, claiming key wickets for India. In the second innings, India was down by 163 runs. Despite early dismissals, a partnership between Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli offered some solidity, but India suffered a catastrophic collapse after that. Kohli’s brave half-century was not enough to survive South Africa’s aggressive bowling assault, ultimately leading to India’s defeat, as they were bowled out for 131 runs.
India tour of South Africa 2023, 2nd Test Match, India vs South Africa
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Date & Time: Wednesday, 3 January, 1:30 PM IST
Pitch Report: The pitch at Newlands is expected to favor the pacers, providing excellent conditions for bowling while challenging the batters. Given the bowling-friendly quality of the pitch, chasing could be advantageous.
PROBABLE PLAYING XI
South Africa:
AK Markram, D Elgar (C), T de Zorzi, Zubayr Hamza, KD Petersen, DG Bedingham, K Verreynne (wk), M Jansen, N Burger, L Ngidi, K Rabada
India:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, S Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, JJ Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna