India vs South Africa, 2nd Test, Day 5: Pathetic Indian batting show leads to series loss in Centurion

 India produced a forgettable batting performance on Day 5 to lose the second Test against South Africa by 135 runs and trail the three-game rubber 2-0 at Centurion's SuperSport Park on Wednesday.

India resumed the day on 35/3 with the odds already heavily stacked against them. Indian fans expected some fight though from the visitors and they were left disappointed after the tourists were bowled out for 151 runs in the first session itself to tamely surrender the game and series.

Cheteshwar Pujara was India's first batsman to go on the day through a run-out for 19. With that he earned the dubious distinction of being the first Indian batsman ever to get run-out in both innings of a Test match. The last batsman to achieve this unpalatable distinction was New Zealand's Stephen Fleming back in 2000 against Zimbabwe in Wellington.  

The wickets fell in a heap afterwards. Parthiv Patel (19) and Hardik Pandya (6) fell to flamboyant strokes shortly after in a batting show totally unbecoming of Test batsmen. There was no application and determination in their approach as should be the case. R Ashwin (3) too failed to contribute in the team's hour of need. 

Debutant Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada took complete advantage of the perplexed Indian batsmen and made them dance to their tunes. However, Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami counter-attacked to great effect by adding 54 runs for the eighth wicket to delay the inevitable.

After Rohit got out for 47, it totally fell apart for the Indian team with Shami (28) and Jasprit Bumrah (2) succumbing in quick succession.

Ngidi had a great debut as he picked up 6/39 in the second innings. The Player of the Match was greatly supported by Rabada at the other end with 3/47.

The third and last match of the Test series will be played from January 24-28 at New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.