Muthusamy ton, Jansen 93 put South Africa in dominant position

A maiden hundred for Senuran Muthusamy and a career-best 93 from Marco Jansen went a long way to take South Africa close to batting India out of the Guwahati Test and the two-match series. No team has lost a Test in India after scoring as many as South Africa's 489. If South Africa can keep that record intact, they will have pushed India to a second home-series loss in 12 months after they went 12 years without any.

At the start of the second day, 489 looked like a million miles away. And while Muthusamy and Kyle Verreynne steadied the ship from the overnight 247 for 6, if South Africa had continued at that scoring rate, they would have barely crossed 400 in the 151.1 overs that they batted.

However, Jansen's 93 off 91, including a record seven sixes against India in India, knocked the wind out of India's sails when they would still have been hopeful despite having bowled 120.1 overs for seven wickets. With Jansen, Muthusamy also upped the intent as the two put together the highest partnership of the series: 97 in 17.4 overs. Muthusamy became the ninth centurion for South Africa this year, but Jansen fell seven short of equalling the world record of ten different centurions in one year.

Even before Jansen, Muthusamy and Verreynne had done enough to frustrate India. The pitch, which had kept the bowlers interested on day one, was flatter because the early moisture had completely dried off. Even then, South Africa lost wickets on day one only when they tried to force the pace. On day two, now six down, they seemed to have decided to take time out of the game, not necessarily for a draw in mind but to deny India batting when the pitch was still good.

For nearly 40 overs on the second morning, India weren't able to build any wicket-taking threat. When they thought they had Muthuswamy lbw on the sweep against Ravindra Jadeja, a faint murmur on UltraEdge reversed the decision. Muthusamy especially looked in complete control, playing only 13 false shots in his 205-ball stay at the wicket. Eventually, it was Verreynne charging at Jadeja too early that allowed India a wicket.

Still, it was only mid-afternoon, and South Africa were only 334 for 7. If India could bowl them out for under 400, they were still in with a good chance to force their way back into the match.

Out came Jansen and hit a no-look six off Jadeja. Then he slog-swept him for a four and a six. India tried Kuldeep Yadav to look to beat him in the air, but he stepped out of the crease and lofted him nonchalantly over long-on. Muthusamy also grew bold and began to slog-sweep whenever he got a chance.

Muthusamy was 67 off 160 when Verreynne got out, but added 43 off 47 after that. India's frustration grew as they now tried to bounce these batters. Jasprit Bumrah drew a top edge that fell just short of fine leg, resulting in a dirty look from Bumrah to Mohammed Siraj, who was asked to bend his back after Bumrah had done so.

First ball after tea, Siraj induced the top edge to get rid of Muthusamy, but the strategy didn't work against Jansen, who lobbed him over mid-on with a pull shot and then hooked him for a six. That the pitch was still good to bat on showed in how Rishabh Pant now asked both his fast bowlers to bowl in tandem. Bumrah hit the top of off of Simon Harmer, but even that didn't bring much respite.

Jansen and Keshav Maharaj added 27 for the last wicket. Jansen's reach remained the feature of his innings, messing up the idea of a good length, but he batted with the mindset of a specialist batter even though his strike rate of over 100 might suggest a cavalier approach. Finally, he was dismissed as he followed a Kuldeep wrong'un and chopped on, disgusted with himself for getting out so close to a hundred.

Kuldeep ended up with four wickets, but this was his first on day two. Jadeja, Bumrah and Siraj got two each. This was only the fourth time since the end of 2016 that India had been kept on the field for 150 overs.

Tired bodies and minds were now looking at a long and adventurous route to save the series, but first they had to survive the awkward half an hour before stumps in fading light. While they had to face only 4.1 overs before bad light ended the day's play, this trend of having time only for 80 overs or so in India's eastern-most venue only strengthened South Africa's chances of holding onto the series lead.