Muthusamy hits historic ton; SA eye series win in India after 25 yrs

Senuran Muthusamy's maiden Test ton (107*) and Marco Jansen's fifty propelled South Africa to 428/7. Muthusamy became the third SA batter to score a century from No. 7 or lower vs India, giving the Proteas hope of a rare series win in India.

Muthusamy, Jansen put Proteas in command with historic partnership

South African all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy became only the third South African batter to register a Test century coming at number seven or below against India in India and achieved another massive record with his batting partner Marco Jansen, who upped the ante in the second session with a stroke-filled fifty. A 94-run partnership between Muthusamy, who cracked his maiden Test ton and Jansen, who scored his fourth Test fifty, has given wings to the Proteas' dream of a Test series win in India after 25 years, as the reigning World Test Champions crossed the 400-run mark at the end of the second session on day two of the second Test at Guwahati on Sunday.

Muthusamy, with his marathon 107* in 203 balls, with 10 fours and two sixes, has become the third SA batter to register a Test hundred from No.7 or lower vs India, after Quinton de Kock (111, Visakhapatnam, 2019) and Lance Klusener (102*, Cape Town, 1997). Also, this is the first time South Africa has got fifty-plus scores from two batters batting number seven or lower in a Test inning against India. India, under the coaching of Gautam Gambhir, continues to break the wrong records, as this is the only second time in the last 13 years when two visiting batters have gone past 50 runs from number seven or lower in a Test innings against India in India, with Liam Dawson (66*) and Adil Rashid (60) at Chepauk in 2016 being the previous ones to do so.

South Africa dominate second session

At the end of the second session, South Africa stood tall at 428/7 in 137 overs, with Muthusamy (107*) and Jansen (51*) at the crease. The visitors started the second session at 316/6, with Senuran (56*) and wicketkeeper-batter Kyle Verreyne (38*).

Day 1 Recap

Earlier, Proteas won the toss and elected to bat first. Aiden Markram (38) and Ryan Rickelton (35) stitched an 82-run stand for the opening wicket. Bumrah and Kuldeep dismissed the openers, and SA was left at 82/2. From there on, Tristan Stubbs (49 in 112 balls) and skipper Temba Bavuma (41 in 92 balls) got starts but couldn't convert their scores. Kuldeep Yadav (3/72) and Mohammed Siraj (1/73) picked up wickets to end the day one as South Africa finished at 247/6.

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