TEA | Proteas peg India back as Simon Harmer shines at Eden Gardens

The Proteas trail India by 12 runs at tea on Day Two of the first Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

South Africa’s opening batters, Ryan Rickelton and Aiden Markram, treaded cautiously in the last 25 minutes of play in the afternoon session, with fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and spinner Axar Patel probing for a wicket before the break.

However, the Proteas openers were solid and almost got through the session unscathed, before Rickelton (11) was dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav (1/2) in the last over before tea.

Trailing by 12 runs, South Africa will hope to build a decent lead as the uneven bounce at Eden Gardens continues to worsen.

Earlier, the Proteas bowlers rescued the team once again, restricting India to 189/9, with Shubman Gill (4) retired hurt after a neck injury three balls into his innings.

Spinner Simon Harmer led from the front in the second session, taking two wickets to complete a four-wicket haul — his third four-for on Indian soil in Test cricket. The off-spinner caught and bowled the in-form Dhruv Jurel (14) and had Axar Patel (16) caught at backward point by Marco Jansen.

Fast bowler Marco Jansen, after a quiet second session in which he bowled his traditional back-of-a-length deliveries without much threat, found success in the afternoon.

The left-armer adjusted his length, went fuller, and was rewarded almost immediately as he cleaned up India’s tailenders.

The 25-year-old accounted for Kuldeep Yadav (1) and Mohammed Siraj (1), helping the Proteas bowl the hosts out for 189, which saw them trail by 30 runs heading into the third innings of the match.

Scorecard as it stands:

South Africa: 159 all out (Aiden Markram 31; Jasprit Bumrah 5/27)

India: 189  (KL Rahul 39; Simon Harmer 4/30)

South Africa: 18/1 (Ryan Rickelton 11; Kuldeep Yadav 1/2)