South Africa vs India 2018, 2nd Test: Hits and misses

South Africa claimed seven Indian wickets early on day five as the visitors, who were chasing 287 for a win, folded on 151 in their second innings at Centurion on Wednesday.

Consequently, the hosts won the second Test by 135 runs and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

On the other hand, the majority of Virat Kohli's men did not seem to have learned from their mistakes in Cape Town, as they failed to show any resistance and were completely undone by the Proteas.

The third and final Test will be played at the New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg from Wednesday, January 24.

Now, let us have a look at the hits and misses from the second Test.

Hit: Aiden Markram

After scores of 5 and 34 in the first Test at Cape Town, Aiden Markram could not quite live up to his reputation for being a dangerous opener, so, he decided to shake things up at his hometown Centurion.

Faf du Plessis won the toss and opted to bat first and the local boy did not disappoint his skipper as Markram scored his second Test half-century against India.

The 23-year-old, who had scores of 97, 15, 143 and 125 in his first two Tests against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, did not allow the India bowlers to rile him as he scored 94, falling just six runs short of what would have been his third century in five matches.

After playing an almost flawless innings, Markram edged a delivery from off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel while trying to play a late cut and was dismissed in the 90s for the second time in his seven Test innings so far.

Hit: Lungi Ngidi

It turned out to be a dream debut for South African pacer Lungi Ndidi as he recorded his first five-wicket haul by recording the figures of 6 for 39 in the second innings at Centurion.

The 21-year-old dismissed Parthiv Patel in the first innings to claim his maiden Test scalp before taking six more Indian wickets in the second, becoming hosts' highest wicket-taker of the match.

However, his shining moment under the Centurion sun came late on day four when, chasing 287 for victory, the visitors needed Virat Kohli to repeat, or at least come close to repeating his first-innings heroics, instead, Ngidi brought the house down when he trapped the Indian skipper in front of the wickets for 5 runs.

Ndidi returned on day five to dismiss Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah as he made his first game in whites a debut to remember.

Miss: Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara's appalling running between the wickets added to India's growing list of woes on the ongoing tour of South Africa as the Saurashtra batsman ran himself out in both the innings at Centurion.

Moreover, he became the first Indian and 23rd batsman overall, to be run out twice in a Test and first since New Zealand's Stephen Fleming against Zimbabwe in 2000.

India’s Test specialist Pujara also registered the first golden duck of his career when he ran himself out in the first innings at the SuperSport Park on Sunday.

The 29-year-old took on debutant Lungi Ngidi, but a direct hit got the better of him.

Overall, Pujara now has five ducks in Test cricket and interestingly, he has been run out for the most number of times in Test cricket since 2012.

Hit: AB de Villiers

When AB de Villiers walked out to bat in the second innings, South Africa's scorecard read 3/2.

It seemed that another batting collapse, like the one in hosts' second outing at Cape Town, was on the cards.

But, De Villiers had different plans. The former Proteas skipper and opener Dean Elgar batted out of their skins and extended the lead to 118 at stumps on day three.

The 34-year-old scored vital 80 runs to display his exceptional batting skills before being dismissed by Mohammed Shami.

De Villiers, who recently returned to Test cricket after a long sabbatical, was instrumental in South Africa's win in the first Test as well.

Hit: Virat Kohli

Team India scored 307 runs in their first innings at Centurion and skipper Virat Kohli scored 153 of those.

It was a one-man show all the way as the 29-year-old produced yet another masterful innings to keep his team afloat in their first outing at the SuperSport Park.

With his 153 off 217 deliveries, Kohli brought up his 21st Test ton and second against South Africa.

In the process, Kohli also became the second Indian captain to scored a century in in the Rainbow Nation after Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 169 in Cape Town during the 1996-97 tour.