Guwahati,nov 25
India’s dismal performance in the second Test against South Africa continued on Tuesday as the team lost two wickets on 21 runs while chasing a mammoth target of 549 set by South Africa.India, who are trailing 1-0 in the Test series have a tough task on hand tomorrow with only eight wickets in hand on the final day of the Test.India lost the wickets in the final session of Day 4 and South Africa are in the driver’s seat going into the final day at the match being played at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.At the stumps on Day 4, India were 27/2, with Kuldeep Yadav (4*) and Sai Sudharsan (2*) unbeaten. The hosts require 522 runs on Day 5 to level the two-match series 1-1. Yashavi Jaiswal and KL Rahul were out cheaply.South Africa started the day at 26/0 in the second innings and were 220/4 at Lunch with Tristan Stubbs (60*) and Wiaan Mulder (29*) on strike.Nitish Kumar Reddy conceded the first boundary of the post-Lunch session when Stubbs hammered him four a four during the third ball of the 74th over.Stubbs took an aggressive route and scored two consecutive boundaries against Reddy during the 76th over. In the 78th over, the Proteas batter slammed a massive six over deep mid-wicket fence against Ravindra Jadeja.In the third ball of the 78th over, Stubbs, who was eyeing his well-deserved century, was bowled by Jadeja for an 180-ball 94.After Stubbs’ dismissal, South Africa decided to declare their total at 260/5, and they set up a daunting target of 549 runs.This is the second time that India had been set a 500-plus target in a home Test, after Australia had set them 543 to win in Nagpur in 2004. They lost that game by 342 runs, which remains their biggest defeat by runs.Indian openers KL Rahul and Yashasvi came out to bat.
