South Africa suffered a potentially disastrous double run out for the second time in six months against India as the visitors arguably had the better of day one when the second Sunfoil Freedom Test match got underway at SuperSport Park on Saturday.

In the closing hour that bore an uncanny reminder of what happened in the ICC Champions Trophy in England last year the Proteas went from a comfortable and controlling 246/3 to 269/6 at the close.

Vernon Philander took the final three India second innings wickets in the space of four balls – the first with a sensational catch by Quinton de Kock standing up to the stumps – to snuff out any thought of a final twist in the tale of the first Sunfoil Test match at PPC Newlands on Monday to clinch a 72-run victory for the Proteas.

Prior to Philander’s triple strike there was just a chance that India might pull off an improbable win as Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar put together an eighth-wicket stand of 49 after India had collapsed to 82/7 in pursuit of a victory target of 208 which was only one run short of what they had managed in the first innings.

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) today announced that Makhaya Ntini, the National Team Bowling Coach, had tendered his resignation from ZC, with immediate effect.

Since his appointment in February 2016, Makhaya has brought a wealth of experience and practical knowledge to ZC, and ZC and its players and coaching staff were fortunate to have had an opportunity to work closely with him during this period, and to learn from his many years of playing for Cricket South Africa at the highest level.

AB de Villiers seized the moment on day one of the first Sunfoil Test match at PPC Newlands when he carved Bhuvneshwar Kumar for four boundaries in his fifth over at a stage when the seamer was threatening to run through the Standard Bank Proteas top-order.

On day two it was the turn of Hardik Pandya to do something similar when he launched a brilliant counter-attack starting with the three boundaries he took from an over from Vernon Philander whom most of his batting colleagues had found almost unplayable.