In his final Test on his home ground, veteran opener Dean Elgar kickstarted his farewell series by slamming a century to put South Africa into the lead on day two of the first Test against India at the SuperSport Park on Wednesday.
When bad light stopped play and eventually go into early stumps, South Africa ended the day at a commanding 256/5 in 66 overs, taking a lead of 11 runs over India, who made 245, thanks to KL Rahul converting his overnight score of 70 into 101, his eighth Test ton and second successive one at this venue.
The overcast day belonged to local boy Elgar, who wowed the spectators with a flurry of gorgeous drives, fierce pulls and his famous gritty attitude to be unbeaten on 140 off 211 balls, his 14th century in the format, laced with 23 fours. He also stitched a vital 131-run stand with debutant David Bedingham, who looked rock-solid in his 56, and place South Africa in the drivers’ seat.
The final session began with Elgar and Bedingham taking 41 runs in the first nine overs, with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur proving to be ineffective in stopping the duo from taking boundaries. Bedingham, who looked solid on backfoot play, reached his maiden Test fifty in 80 balls, before being castled by Siraj and depart for 56.
With some variable bounce on offer, Prasidh Krishna made use of it to get his maiden Test wicket in the form of Kyle Verreynne. The right-handed batter tried to punch a rising short ball, but the ball took the glove edge behind to keeper KL Rahul.
Elgar would be whacked on the glove off Krishna, following which a break in the play happened, giving time to umpires to assess the light situation at the stadium. With the light not being good enough to continue, the players walked off. 30 minutes before the stipulated stumps time, play was called off for the day, which well and truly belonged to South Africa and Elgar.
Brief Scores: India 245 in 67.4 overs (KL Rahul 101; Kagiso Rabada 5-44) trail South Africa 256/5 in 66 overs (Dean Elgar 140 not out, David Bedingham 56; Jasprit Bumrah 2-48, Mohammed Siraj 2-61) by 11 runs
