IND vs SA, 2nd Test, Day 2: Muthusamy, Verreynne frustrate India with gutsy stand to guide South Africa to 316/6 at Tea
Senuran Muthusamy and Kyle Verreynne posted an unbeaten fifty-plus stand to guide South Africa to 316/2 in their first innings at Tea on Day 2 of the ongoing 2nd Test in Guwahati.
Kyle Verreynne and Senuran Muthusamy shared an unbeaten stand of 70 runs for the seventh wicket to help South Africa reach 316/6 at Tea on Day 2 of the second Test against India at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday. The duo put on a brilliant partnership to frustrate India as the hosts failed to get a single wicket in the first session.
Resuming South Africa's first innings at 247/6 on Day 2, Muthusamy and Verreynne joined hands to make the Indian bowlers toil hard for their wickets. Muthusamy notched up his third half-century in Tests and remained unbeaten on 56 off 131 balls, while Verreynne played his part with a valuable 38 off 94 balls to help South Africa cross the 300-run mark.
The duo shared an unbeaten 70-run stand while preserving their wickets, putting South Africa in a strong position and creating pressure on India. Both Muthusamy and Verreynne looked assured in the middle and countered the Indian spinners comfortably as they saw out spells from Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.
The duo also did well to protect their wickets against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj at the start of the day's play. Sundar and Jadeja came close to providing India with a breakthrough on a couple of occasions, however, the South African batters survived to ensure they ended the first session unbeaten.
Muthusamy completed his half-century in the penultimate over of the session with a single off Sundar and got a boundary in the last over from Kuldeep to help South Africa get 7 runs from it. The spinner batted out of his skin, making the most of the batting-friendly conditions in Guwahati to take his team to a strong position in the game.
India desperately search for wickets
India desperately hunted for wickets in the morning session on Day 2, but were left disappointed as none of the bowlers managed to breach the seventh-wicket stand between Muthusamy and Verreynee. India will be wary of the partnership and will look to break it as soon as possible in the second session after tea.
South Africa, on the other hand, will be hoping for the duo to carry on the momentum and take them closer to the 400-run mark in their first innings.