IND vs SA 2025-26, 1st Test Day 2, Highlights: Ravindra Jadeja’s brilliant 4-29 leaves South Africa struggling at 93-7.
Brief Scores: SA 93/7 (Temba Bavuma 29*, Ravindra Jadeja 4/29) & 159 (Aiden Markram 31, Jasprit Bumrah 5/27, Kuldeep Yadav 2/36) lead Ind 189 (KL Rahul 39, Simon Harmer 4/30, Marco Jansen 3/35) by 63 runs at stumps on Day 2.
Team India marched into the second day of the opening Test against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata with dominance. Jasprit Bumrah’s 5/27 blew away the Proteas for just 159 in the first innings as the visitors lost their 10 wickets in less than 100 runs. Going into the second day, India had the chance to rule the Temba Bavuma-led side out of the contest with a lead of over 200.
The cracks started to open from one end, making it tough for the batters to adjust to the variable bounce. There was a little bit of spin towards the end of the opening day’s play, but it wasn’t too concerning. The bowlers would need to attack the stumps for the bowled and LBW dismissals.
Talking point: India’s middle order surrendered to spin
India’s middle order struggled against the South Africa spinners. The pitch was definitely hard, and it challenged their technique.
Dhruv Jurel chipped a length delivery back to Simon Harmer. Ravindra Jadeja, in his usual mode of dismissals, put his pad before the bat and was trapped before the wickets. They lost four wickets for just 39 runs, which resulted in a headache for the management.
Read More: IND vs SA 2025-26, 1st Test, Day 1: Bumrah fifer blows away SA for 159; India 37-1 at stumps
India slip to 138/4 against South Africa’s disciplined bowling; trail by 21 runs at lunch
Both the overnight batters, Washington Sundar and KL Rahul, negotiated the first hour of the session with authority. They recorded a 57-run second wicket partnership before Harmer drew first blood of the morning when Sundar got an outside edge that flew into the hands of Aiden Markram at the slip region.
Shubman Gill was retired hurt after picking up a neck spasm. As he got up after playing a lovely sweep over square leg, he felt clear pain and began to massage the left side of his neck. Meanwhile, Rahul departed for 39 after Markram completed a sharp low catch of the India opener.
Rishabh Pant, on his return, contributed 27 runs in 24 balls but couldn’t handle the short ball from Corbin Bosch. He gloved the leg-side delivery to the wicket-keeper, Kyle Verryene. India went back for lunch at 138/4, trailing by 21 runs.
Simon Harmer’s 4/30 blew away India for 189; SA lose Ryan Rickelton at Tea
Jurel looked proactive in the middle after the break with a couple of sweet boundaries against Bosch. But Harmer pocketed Jurel’s wicket as he chipped a tossed-up delivery back to the spinner. Jadeja was trapped leg before the stumps for 27 as India found themselves struggling at 172/7 in the blink of an eye. They lost their last six wickets for 97 runs.
Marco Jansen broke through Mohammad Siraj’s defense to disturb the stumps. Axar Patel was the last man to be dismissed for the hosts, who had by then, collected a tiny lead of 30 runs. For the Proteas, Harmer ended with fine figures of 4/30 in 15.2 overs.
South Africa’s openers, Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton, had almost negotiated an annoying 20 minutes. But they couldn’t keep that running. Kuldeep Yadav trapped Rickelton before the stumps with the Rainbow Nation reducing the deficit of 12 runs at tea.
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Ravindra Jadeja’s 4/29 rocks back South Africa at 93/7; visitors lead by 63 runs
Soon after the break, Ravindra Jadeja bagged the massive wicket of Markram, whose awkward sweep was caught brilliantly by Jurel at short leg. The left-arm spinner ran through the visitors’ middle-order with a double-wicket over.
The first of them was Wiaan Mulder, who didn’t have any answer to the ball that jumped off a good length and took a nick off his glove. Two balls later, Tony de Zorzi gloved the length ball into the hands of the short leg. Another sharp spin from the middle of the surface beat Tristan Stubbs’ defense to disturb the stumps.
Temba Bavuma saw two more rash shots from Kyle Verreynne and Marco Jansen to get dismissed. But he stayed composed for his unbeaten 29 runs as the Proteas ended the second day with 93/7, leading by 63 runs.
What to expect on Day 3
With a lead of 63 runs and three wickets in hand, South Africa will aim to somehow cross the 150-run mark. For India, they would be happy to chase anything around 100. On a surface that spun variably on the second day, the third day will be challenging for the batters.
Statistical Highlights from IND vs SA, 1st Test, Day 2
- KL Rahul becomes the 18th India batter to cross the 4000-run milestone in Tests.
- Washington Sundar and KL Rahul record India’s second-highest Test second-wicket partnership (57) against South Africa at the Eden Gardens.
- Rishabh Pant (92) overtakes Virender Sehwag (90) to record the most sixes in Tests for India.
- This is only the third instance that no fifty-plus score has been registered in the first two innings of a Test in India. Interestingly, the previous such instance was also recorded in an India vs South Africa Test in Nagpur in 2015-16.
- Simon Harmer becomes the joint leading wicket-taker (14) along with Paul Adams and Imran Tahir for South Africa in Tests in India among spinners.
- Ravindra Jadeja became the fourth all-rounder in Test history to bag the double of 4000 runs & 300 wickets. He is also the second India all-rounder to achieve this feat after Kapil Dev.
- Ravindra Jadeja has scaled the 250-wicket mark in home Tests.
On a difficult pitch, South Africa have come apart. It was a pitch made for Jadeja! But India need to be careful not to let the tail wag because they don't want to chase too many.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 15, 2025
Off spinner Simon Harmer’s been quite superb, teasing and testing batsmen ceaselessly. Immaculate control, wide repertoire of skills and fine temperament make him a tough bowler to face. India need to extend the lead by 50-60 from here. Batting last on this pitch won’t be easy
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) November 15, 2025
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