Follow UsWhen South Africa had a lead of 288 runs on the basis of the first innings in the second Test in Guwahati, it was assumed that they would declare after batting around 30 overs on Day 4, November 25 (Tuesday), which would be around 40 overs in the entire second innings.
However, forget 30, they went on to bat for over 70 overs on Day 4, declaring their innings at 260/5, after batting 78.3 overs. This was unusual given that they took their lead to 548 for no rhyme or reason, as more overs in the pocket could have seen them force a result early instead of going with the defensive approach to try and bat the other team out of contention for a win.
The Proteas side, thanks to their delayed declaration, made things simple for India; all they could do was bat out for a draw.
However, Tristan Stubbs, who was the best batter in the South African second innings with an innings of 94, missing his hundred in trying to get there with a big hit, had a different approach of looking at the declaration by his team.
Explaining the late declaration, Stubbs, in an end-of-the-day interview with the broadcaster Jio Hotstar, said, “[It] wasn't an overs thing. It was more about time. We wanted to bat for 40 minutes after lunch. When Jadeja came on, that was the last over, so two hits was what I tried.”
Talking about how he changed his batting post Tea and Lunch on Day 4, Stubbs, who showed a great range in defence and attack, said, “Some of the options, you had to play them. If you looked to defend, you might be a sitting duck. The reverse sweep was more of a defensive shot to get off strike.”
The South African batter was more positive for a result in his team’s favour after they claimed two Indian wickets by the end of the day and needed eight more to claim a series win and a second whitewash of India in India. “Some nice foot-holes [are there on the pitch]. Harmy [Simon Harmer] showed by getting KL [Rahul] out."
Rahul was bowled by Harmer as India’s last wicket. The hosts finished the day at 27/2, needing 522 more to win and get level at 1-1 in the series. However, the ideal scenario for them would be to try and bat out the 80–82 overs that are likely to be bowled on the final day in Guwahati.