South Africa vs India, 2nd Test at Johannesburg, SA v IND, Jan 03 2022 - Ball by Ball Commentary

6.21pm: That's all we have from this Test for you. The series is 1-1 heading into Cape Town, all set for a classic finale. Make sure you join us for that. On behalf of Hemant and Raghav, this is Saurabh Somani signing off.

6.19pm: Quite a lot to unpack in those post-match comments by both captains. Rahul has said that Virat Kohli's already been hitting the nets and should be fit in time for the third Test. India are likely to wait and watch on Siraj though. And Rahul felt that India made too few runs after winning the toss and batting first, which is a fair assessment from a captain. Elgar has said that Kagiso Rabada was given a 'rocket' which fired him up for that game-turning spell in the second innings. He's also holding whatever knowledge he's gleaned of Newlands in Cape Town close to his chest.

Dean Elgar is the Man of the Match: The basics of batting bowling and batting don't go away, we missed that in the first game. Saying that, it wasn't easy. Tough conditions we had to face as a batting unit. As a bowling unit, the Indians were on top at times. Massive respect to our bowling unit, they showed a lot of character. Always a privilege to represent your country. I would like to think the knocks I take make me extra motivated to perform. Some would call it stupid and some would call it brave. The bigger picture is for us to win. We struggled to get a stable batting line-up and we had to be very patient. We've entrusted those positions to guys we feel can perform those roles and great to see them pull it off. (Rabada) With KG there was something that happened behind the scenes but we're not going to get into that. Sometimes KG needs a rocket. You could then almost sense the intensity and focus, he was in the zone. The moment he has that attitude he wants to bowl and wants to contribute, you have to use it as a captain. It was awesome to see him fire. Team effort to get 20 wickets. I played a domestic game in Cape Town, not going to give away an info. 1-1, South Africa vs India, I don't think you could have written a better script.

KL Rahul: Every Test match we play we feel we should win and want to win. That's the kind of team we are, we compete really hard and we leave everything on the field. So yes a bit disappointing but credit to the way South Africa played. They really batted well and bowled well. We were really looking forward to getting go nth field. We all felt we could do something special, 122 wasn't going to be that easy to get, the pitch was up and down, but like I said, the South African batsmen were really determined and got the job done. If I have to be really harsh, after winning the toss we could have put 60-70 runs more. Shardul's had a great Test match. In the few Test matches he's played he's really created that impact and won us games. The contribution he had with the bat was crucial as well. Hopefully as a unit, a few more of us can put our hands up in the next Test and put up a performance that will get India a win. (On Rahane and Pujara) They've been great players for us, they've always done the job for the team over the years. They've obviously been under the pump a bit, but in the team we believe Pujara and Ajinkya are our best middle order batsmen. We always knew they could do something like that. Hopefully that gives them confidence and they can go out in the next test and put up an even better performance. Virat is feeling better already, been in the nets the last couple of days fielding and running around and I think he should be fine. Siraj is starting to feel better each day. A couple of days break might really help him. But we have quality on our bench as well, Ishant and Umesh are waiting. Looking forward to Cape Town. We expected every game to be competitive. A loss like this is disappointing but we've always been a team that gets hungrier after a loss.

Hang around for the presentations. Should be up shortly.

Shahid: "First week of 2022 witnessed 2 upsets already , can England do the same to Australia? "

Mohit: "So Rahane is still unbeaten as captain...quirk of fate"

5.52pm: The series is level at 1-1. That was a chase and a half by South Africa. India threw irresistible force at Dean Elgar, but the South African captain was the immovable object. He remains unbeaten on 96 - I'm sure he won't mind missing the century because it's such a sweet victory to savour. South Africa came into this Test under the pump, the clear under-dogs at home for the first time against India. The Indians had breached a fortress at Centurion and were buzzing, but South Africa responded by breaching a castle of their own, on a ground India had never lost a Test on before. This is a stunning, fantastic victory. Chasing 240 in these conditions against India's top-class attack - even though Siraj was largely hors de combat because of his hamstring - took some doing. Elgar weathered body blows, edges, balls whistling past - but remained bloody-mindedly at the crease. Don't forget the contributions of Keegan Petersen and Temba Bavuma in both innings, as well as Marco Jansen's wickets. And the bowling spell that turned the tide, with Kagiso Rabada breathing fire. India had their moments in the game - Shardul's first-innings bowling, Rahul and Ashwin's batting in the first innings and then the Pujara-Rahane stand in the second, but South Africa came back strongly each time and eventually pulled away. This has to count as among South Africa's finest wins, because they've beaten a top team.

Karthik: "When was the last time India won a series without losing a test ?" --- ummm, literally the last series they played? At home against New Zealand?

Temba's pulled out again as Shardul is about to deliver. Seems to indicate that someone was walking across the sightscreen? Shardul just jogs back to his mark.

Bavuma's pulled out again when a bowler's going to deliver and Shardul makes his frustration audible.

round the wicket to the right-hander.

MSaffa: "Nooo! we don't want the free wides! Takes it away from Elgars score!"

Nilesh Sinha: "It would be harsh to say that Indian batters should have played the situation better.. barring Pant, I don't think anyone played badly. We all would have taken this score to defend at the starting of the match and therefore credit must only go where it is due, that is to the SA batsmen."