Post Lunch, the batting duo of Mayank and Pujara looked to consolidate on a batting-friendly pitch and extend their partnership. Mayank looked in solid control, especially against spin, as he smashed spinner Maharaja's two over-pitched deliveries for back-to-back boundaries in 28th over.
Following his brilliant form in Vizag Test, Agarwal brought up his fifth Test fifty off 112 deliveries with a fiery four off Maharaja. Debutante Nortje, who averaged 146 KPH in his first spell, was brought into the attack but proved to be ineffective.
Adding to Proteas misery, opener Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara played remarkably well against Proteas disciplined bowling to stitch together a solid 100-run partnership.
Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara (58 off 112 balls) batted calmly on the other end to score his second straight fifty. However, paceman Kagiso Rabada ended Proteas' search for a much-needed breakthrough as he bowled a beautiful out-swinging delivery to claim his second wicket in form of Pujara and finally put an end to 138-run second-wicket stand.
Pujara's dismissal got the Indian captain Virat Kohli on the crease at Tea.
Teams:
South Africa (Playing XI): Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Theunis de Bruyn, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Senuran Muthusamy, Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje
India (Playing XI): Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami