India has beaten South Africa in the second test by 87 runs to level the three test match series 1-1. The match was evenly matched on the start of the 4th day of the test match but it has to be said that Indian bowlers barely bowled a bad ball in the first session of the day due to which we can say that India was able to take full control on the match.
Being set a target of 303, South Africa started the day with 111-3 with further 192 runs to ensure the victory but Indian bowlers were able to take 4 more wickets before the lunch leaving Proteas struggling at 182-7. A resilient 39 not out knock from Ashwell Prince was also not enough for the South Africa as Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth finished with 3 wickets each to ensure the victory in the 2nd session of the day. Now both teams enter into the third test match on January 2 at Cape Town.
Returning fast bowler Zaheer Khan played a m(–foul word(s) removed–)ive part in the victory as he took 6 wickets in the test match to restrict Africans to a total of 131 runs in the first innings. India scored 205 runs in the first innings and Zaheer Khan heroics gave India a priceless lead of 74 runs in the first innings which has proved vital in the end as South Africa lost the match by just 87 runs.
Both teams have to improve their batting standards in the series decider as both test matches have been a relatively low scoring matches with both sides unable to score 250 runs in the second match. On the other hand, bowling department of both the teams have been pretty useful in the series as they have been able to restrict teams under relatively low totals. So we can say that everything is set for a nail biting finish to the test match series between the top two ranked teams in the world. It will be a special moment for Sachin Tendulkar because it may prove to be the final tour for the greatest ever batsman which the game of cricket has experienced.