India vs South Africa: Elgar's brilliant ton, Bedingham's splendid debut and other top moments from Day 2

Two days into the marquee Test series between South Africa and India, and the series opener at Centurion’s SuperSport Park has largely gone the Proteas’ way so far.

If it was pacer Kagiso Rabada who headlined the opening day of the latest Test meeting between the two heavyweights with a five-wicket haul, it was senior opener and former captain Dean Elgar who hogged the limelight on the second day with an innings to remember.

The day also witnessed overnight batter KL Rahul bring up a milestone of his own as well as debutants David Bedingham and Prasidh Krishna open their accounts in the Test format in contrasting fashion.

The Proteas managed to surge ahead of their opponents, collecting an 11-run lead with five wickets still in hand (depending on skipper Temba Bavuma’s fitness) and heading into the third day, they will have their sights set on a sizeable first innings lead that should make them favourites to 1-0 up.

Before we shift our attention to Day 3, a.k.a. the ‘Moving Day’ we take a look at some of the standout moments from the events of the second day.

Elgar finally scores a century at home

There’s little doubt over the fact that Day 2 well and truly belonged to one Dean Elgar, who had already indicated before the series that this would be his swansong and made the occasion all the more special by finally scoring a Test hundred at the SuperSport Park, his home venue.

After captaining the Proteas for the better part of the Indian innings in the absence of the injured Temba Bavuma, Elgar negotiated a tricky little period where Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were bowling challenging lines, with the latter getting rid of Aiden Markram in the fourth over of the day. Elgar would then guide the Proteas to 49/1 at lunch in the company of Tony de Zorzi, before unleashing an assault on Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur on the other side of the interval as the game began to slip away from the Indians.

Read: Elgar says he wasn’t looking to ‘prove any point with Centurion ton

Elgar remained steadfast at his end even after Bumrah managed to undo some of the post-lunch damage by dismissing de Zorzi and Keegan Petersen in quick succession; the 36-year-old would hardly appear fazed by the twin strike and would ensure the Proteas maintained a positive scoring rate throughout the session. Shortly before tea, he would bring up his 14th Test hundred with a boundary, letting out a David Warner-like leap to celebrate the special feat at a very special venue.

Salute to Dean Elgar. He has so often scores what seems to be tough runs. To avg nearly 50 opening the batting in South African conditions is laudable.

— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) December 27, 2023

What stood out in Elgar’s knock on Wednesday was the fact that the southpaw decided to shelve his usual defensive game, where he would grind the opposition bowlers to dust, in favour of a more attacking one. Never before did Elgar produce as many exquisite cover drives in an innings as he did on the second day.

Rahul slams a second successive ton at Centurion

Elgar was by no means the only individual to go past the three-figure mark on Wednesday. KL Rahul had put up a spirited fight against the rampaging Proteas on the opening day, ending the day unbeaten on 70, and the thought of a second consecutive Test century in Centurion would have been swirling in his mind when he walked out to resume the innings at start of play.

Rahul saw through Rabada’s first over of the day for a maiden, before collecting a boundary at the start of his second to get going. From thereon, Rahul was not only marching towards his personal milestone, but was also collecting runs at a fairly rapid pace, hoping to get India past 250. He would collect a four and a six in a space of four deliveries in what would turn out to be KG’s final over of the innings, and bring up his eight Test hundred in style in the following by with a six off Gerald Coetzee.

Read | KL Rahul opens up on handling social media trolls

Rahul eventually was the last Indian wicket to fall, getting castled by Nandre Burger to become the debutant’s third wicket. India finished with a respectable total of 245, knowing they would have struggled to cross 200 had it not been for their keeper-batter. Rahul would also earn widespread praise for his knock, with batting legend Sunil Gavaskar rating it among the best Test knocks by an Indian.

Bedingham shines on debut

The ongoing tour has witnessed plenty of individuals get their careers off to cracking starts, with pacer Nandre Burger striking twice on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, it was middle-order batter David Bedingham’s turn to make his mark in the Proteas jersey and boy did he impress with his knock of 56 off 87 deliveries that contained seven fours and two sixes.

Bedingham arrived at a time when the South Africans were under a bit of pressure following Bumrah’s dismissal of de Zorzi and Petersen in quick succession in the second session, and announced himself with a boundary off the lead Indian pacer off the second ball that he faced.

Bedingham perhaps came closest to matching Elgar’s intensity on the day and scored at a similar clip as his senior partner, as the two added 131 for the fourth wicket that ensured the Proteas would end the day in the lead with plenty of wickets in hand.

Bedingham’s no stranger to the red-ball format; the 29-year-old has plied his trade with Durham in the County Championship for a number of years now, and thus was able to take to Test cricket like fish to water.

More importantly, he had been representing Durham as a local player and not as an overseas recruit, meaning he had qualified to represent England at one point. Bedingham, however, would end up ditching his English dreams in favour of representing the country of his birth after a discussion with red-ball coach Shukri Conrad, and with his impressive debut on Wednesday, would ensure he remains in the Proteas’ Test plans even if they are set to play a limited number of matches in whites in the near future.