Ranchi, Oct 20 (UNI) Rohit Sharma's maiden double century (212 ) in Test cricket and Ajinkya Rahane's 115 put India on top at stumps on Day 2 of the ongoing third Test against South Africa, here at the JSCA Stadium Complex on Sunday.
South Africa were reeling at 9 for 2 after Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami removed their openers Quinton de Kock and Dean Elgar in the post Tea session as bad light forced an early end to play on day two with Proteas playing just 5 overs in 1st innings.
Faf du Plessis (1 not out) and Zubayr Hamza (0 not out ) were at the crease at the end of Day 2. Earlier, India declared their first innings at 497 for nine.
Resuming the play on Day 2, the duo of Rohit and Rahane kept on thrashing Proteas bowlers.
In the first session, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane scored his 11th Test hundred, his first at home since scoring 188 against New Zealand in Indore in October 2016. However, Rahane (115) failed to get a daddy hundred as he got out to left-arm spinner Dane Piedt.
However, the day belonged to Rohit who reached the 200-run milestone with a six over mid-wicket off pacer Lungi Ngidi in the third over after lunch to receive a standing ovation from the home crowd.
Just like Saturday, Rohit played with the fluency and took the attack to South Africa pacers and spinners and got to the 200-run mark, thereby joining an elite list of cricketers - Chris Gayle, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag -who have scored double hundreds in both ODI and Test cricket.
Rohit was finally dismissed for 212 off 255 balls when his mis-timed pull off Kagiso Rabada landed in the hands of Ngidi in deep fine-leg.
The duo of Rahane-Rohit added 267 runs for the fourth wicket to set a solid platform before Ravindra Jadeja (51 off 119 balls) and Umesh Yadav (31 off 10 balls with five sixes) provided the final push.
In reply, South Africa were off to a bad start as they lost Dean Elgar for 0 in the very 2nd ball of their innings. In the very next over, Umesh dismissed South Africa opener Quinton de Kock for 4 with an unplayable bouncer.
On day 3, the Indian bowling attack would like to take advantage of the pitch on which cracks are beginning to open up, and the uneven bounce could only make life more difficult for South African batting line-up.
Brief scores: India 1st innings: 497/9 declared (Rohit Sharma 212, Ajinkya Rahane 115; Ravindra Jadeja 51, George Linde 4/133, Kagiso Rabada 3/85)
South Africa 1st innings: 9/2 (Mohammed Shami 1/0, Umesh Yadav 1/4)
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