Cricket correspondent Stuart Hess, who is at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, gives us a look at Monday’s Plays of the Day.
Johannesburg – South Africa did well to dismiss India for 202 on day one of the second Test, but they’ll need a big effort from their batters on day two in order to turn the game in their favour.
Stuart Hess, who is at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, gives us a look at Monday’s Plays of the Day.
BALL: Jansen, after a series of deliveries moving away from the left-hander Pant, got one to move back into him, finding the inside edge with Verreynne doing the rest.
CATCH: Rassie van der Dussen at short leg to get rid of Vihari off Rabada was a gem. Van der Dussen had a few balls fly close to him through the first two sessions, but he wasn’t going to let the Vihari offering pass him by, leaping high to his left he made a stunning one-hand grab to end a critical partnership.
DROP: Keegan Petersen, threw his bat at a wide ball that bounced more than he’d reckoned, he edged high to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant’s left but India’s keeper dived past the ball, the chance was missed 20 minutes before stumps. What could that let off mean for the Proteas No.3? He needs to make India pay on day 2.
BELL RINGER: Sipokazi Sokanyile, the Proteas men’s team’s media manager had the honour of ringing the bell at Wanderers to signal the start of play. It was an excellent gesture on the Central Gauteng Lions union’s behalf to have her do so because in what has largely been a dark period for SA cricket, ‘Spoki’ has been one of the brightest lights.
#Proteas media manager @sipokazis86 got the 2nd Betway Test underway by ringing the bell to signal the start of the match#SAvIND #FreedomTestSeries #BetwayTestSeries #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/mf0J07bmOA
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) January 3, 2022
All of the rest of the Proteas management and coaching staff, standing by the side of the field, turned around and applauded her as she rang the bell, a sign of how much value – mostly unseen – she provides to the side.
OFFICIATING: Allahudien Paleker,is standing in his first Test here, the culmination of a 15 year journey. He certainly had a busy first day, starting with two big decisions in the first hour, one of which was referred to the TV official by the home team.
Paleker was right on both occasions as he was for all the decisions he made the rest of the day. On twitter, his cousin, Cricket SA’s former media manager, Altaaf Kazi wrote: “Good luck reading the family WhatsApp group tonight.”
