Amid question marks over their place and a poor run of form on the tour so far, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane batted aggressively and scored rapid half-centuries to lead India’s fightback in the second innings of the second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg.
Both carried on with the same intent early on the third day to reach their fifties and extended their partnership beyond 100 runs to also take India’s lead over 100 runs in the second innings of the Test. Pujara took just 62 balls to reach his fifty while Rahane was a little slower and consumed 67 balls for the landmark.
Right since they walked out to bat late on the second day, they batted with supreme confidence and an aggressive approach to put the South Africa pace attack under pressure.
Pujara’s intent after the dismissal of the stand-in skipper KL Rahul set the tone for a strong India’s batting in the second innings and the tourists have extended their lead beyond the 100-run mark while having eight wickets in their hands.
South Africa had taken a lead of 27 runs on the second day despite a tremendous seven-wicket haul from Shardul Thakur and India are on their way to post a strong total in their second innings.