SA vs IND | Elgar’s unbeaten ton helps South Africa nose ahead

India vs South Africa: Rahul’s flair and fluency was hardly a surprise. But Elgar’s urgency to score and the frequency of fluent drives may have surprised quite a few.

The sun barely made an appearance on Wednesday. That didn’t matter: two sparkling hundred lit up the second day of the first Test at the SuperSport Park.

If K.L. Rahul (101, 137b, 14x4, 4x6) helped India post a decent total — it looked more than that in the first half of the day — Dean Elgar (140 batting, 211b, 23x4) ensured South Africa had its nose in front.

The host was 256 for five at stumps, a lead of 11.

Earlier, the players were greeted by the sight of covers on the ground, but cricket got underway with a delay of just 25 minutes. India, which resumed at 208 for eight, needed Rahul to extend his stay at the challenging wicket. He did that in some style.

His partner Mohammed Siraj hung on for a while, a bit like what Pat Cummins has been doing of late. Their ninth-wicket stand was worth 47 when the seamer — his contribution was five runs — was caught behind off Gerald Coetzee.

Rahul now needed some help from his Karnataka teammate and debutant Prasidh Krishna to complete his hundred. He obliged, as the duo took a quick bye, which brought Rahul back on strike against Coetzee.

Off the last ball of the over, he reached his hundred swinging the young quick over mid-wicket for a six. This ground seems to Rahul what Lord’s was to Dilip Vengsarkar; it is his second hundred in as many Tests.