Keegan Petersen and Temba Bavuma Give Proteas a Big Chance of a Win, Shardul Thakur Provides Hope for India

• Keegan Petersen and Temba Bavuma both scored big as South Africa go into day 3 with a chance of victory insight
• Shardul Thakur gave India some hope as he took 7 wickets for just 61 runs, limiting South Africa to a lead of 27 runs
• South Africa go into day 3 with a good chance of picking up a victory thanks to a good batting display

Stunning knocks from Keegan Petersen and Temba Bavuma gave South Africa a sniff of victory as they head into the third day looking to bowl India out cheaply.

At the end of the first day, South Africa were 35/1 chasing India's 202. Petersen and Bavuma then both produced great batting displays as they scored 62 and 51 respectively. South Africa were eventually bowled out for 229, building a lead of 27 runs.

Shardul Thakur once again impressed for India, taking 7/61 in the innings and helping to reduce South Africa to a minimal lead, CricInfo reported.

KL Rahul leads Indian charge on day 1, Ngidi shows some Protea fire

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India then ended the day on 85/2 having lost danger batsmen KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, Sports24 reported. Cheteshwar Pujara was on 35 not out and Ajinkya Rahane was 11 not out as India held a slight 58-run lead going into day three. Pujara and Rahane picked up the pace towards the end of day three, scoring at four runs to the over.

Social media users were divided on who they thought had control of the test match, as the game remains quite evenly poised.

@africaSmith:

"It's so difficult to watch the proteas. Just kak. You give us hope and then kak. Flip man. Just ger yourselves together."

@123Selwane:

"I think Proteas are ahead at the moment. Indian batting line up have been fragile lately excluding openers. They are effectively 58/2 now. First session tomorrow will make it clear who the favorite is for this match."

South Africa Looks to Bounce Back in 2nd Test, Indian Captain Virat Kohli Left Out Due to Back Spasm

Remembering Desmond Tutu: The day the Proteas celebrated the Arch's birthday with a big win

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In other cricket news, Sports Brief earlier reported that South Africa will be looking to level the test series against India when the second test gets underway at Wanderers. South Africa go into the second test making two changes to the team that played in the first test while India are without captain Virat Kohli.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed on Twitter that Kohli would not play due to an upper back spasm. He was replaced by the right-handed batsman, Hanuma Vihari. South Africa brought in Kyle Verreynne in place of Quinton de Kock.

De Kock was due to miss out on the test anyway prior to retiring from test matches with immediate effect last week. Duanne Olivier also made his return to the test team, replacing Wiaan Mulder.