Rohit ton gives India control

Visakhapatnam, October 5 

Rohit Sharma smashed another hundred and a plethora of records as India set an improbable 395-run target for South Africa in the first Test which is headed for an exciting final day. Revelling in his new role, Rohit effortlessly walked his way into the record books as he scored 127 off 149 balls, following his 176, to become the first ever batsman to score two hundreds in his first Test as an opener.

Late declaration

In a debatable decision, India batted late into the final session on Day 4 before declaring their second innings at 323/4 in 67 overs, giving themselves 45 minutes on Day 4 and the whole of Day 5 to bowl out South Africa. In the end, only 30 minutes of play was possible due to bad light after South Africa came out to bat.

Elgar trapped

At stumps, South Africa were 11/0 with Ravindra Jadeja trapping first innings centurion Dean Elgar in front of the stumps. The visitors need another 384 runs for victory. The pitch remains slow but is offering turn with the odd ball rearing up from the spots created. Ravichandran Ashwin — who took seven wickets in the first innings — and Jadeja hold the key on the final day. With the doughty Elgar removed, the only other factor could be Quinton de Kock, who has often proved to be a thorn in India’s flesh. Considering their spirited effort with the bat in the first innings, South Africa would be backing themselves to bat out the 90-odd overs on the final day.

Sublime knock

The day once again belonged to Rohit, who played yet another sublime knock at a brisk pace after the hosts bowled out South Africa for 431 almost one hour into morning session, earning a 71-run lead. Rohit smashed six sixes in first innings and seven in the second, including a hat-trick of sixes off spinner Dane Piedt in the 56th over when India were looking for quick runs.

His 169-run stand for the second wicket with Cheteshwar Pujara (81 off 148) set the tone for India’s second innings before Ravindra Jadeja (40), Virat Kohli (31*) and Ajinkya Rahane (27*) played their part. — PTI

Rohit’s swear word caught on stump mic 

Rohit Sharma has taken his first Test series as an opener by storm. The 32-year-old today scored his second century of the match, taking a slew of records with him. There was, however, a moment today which he won’t be too proud of. He was on strike with Cheteshwar Pujara at the other end and as Rohit looked for a single, he was sent back by Pujara. When making his way to the crease, Rohit urged Pujara to run while using a Hindi expletive in the sentence. A clip from that moment has since gone viral on the social media and has caught the eye of England all-rounder Ben Stokes. Stokes himself had tweeted about the expletive, which happens to rhyme with his name, in June when people tweeted images of Virat Kohli using the word and joking that it was Stokes’ name that he was invoking. “This time it’s Rohit not Virat.... If you know you know,” tweeted Stokes. — IANS