Centurion: For the very second time in two tests, India are on the verge of losing on South African soil as they ended the day on a shaky 35/3, chasing 287 at the Supersport Park in Centurion on Monday.
The visitors have had many concerns to address in the two matches they’ve played so far but one thing that have stung them from Cape Town itself has been their shoddy fielding, which has allowed South Africa to gain the upper hand many a times. A brilliant example can be taken from the 48th over of South Africa’s second innings where wicket-keeper batsman Quinton De Kock was given a reprieve not once, but thrice before he was finally sent back in the same over. With South Africa at 159/4, a fiery Mohammad Shami bowled the first ball to De Kock, only for the latter to slash it hard over Rohit Sharma at first slip for a four.
The next ball, De Kock was once again beaten and this time, the culprit was Parthiv Patel who had moved too much to his right, which made it difficult for him to dive left and take the catch. De Kock, having got a reprieve of two consecutive deliveries now once again opted to play at a ball outside the off-stump and ended up guiding it past Rohit who now was at the second slip this time. However, much to the delight of Shami, Patel finally took a catch when De Kock edged it to him.
It was indeed a frustrating day for Virat Kohli and his men on the field as the South African tail hung around with skipper Faf Du Plessis (48) who kept on stitching partnerships with them to take the hosts to a 258 all out. AB De Villiers, who had scored a fifty on the third day was the first man to be dismissed on Monday when Shami had him caught behind for 80 runs of 121 balls. Dean Elgar (61) was the next set batsman to depart as he was dismissed by Shami.
The visitors had a long day on the field, but their bowlers led by Shami, Bumrah and Pandya continuosly chipped away at the wickets. As a matter of fact, after that draining 138-run partnership between Elgar and De Villiers, India’s bowling improved a notch higher as they bowled them out for just 258.
To make matters worse for the visitors, skipper Kohli was fined 25% of his match fee and also earned a demerit point for on-field dissent, breaching the ICC Code of Conduct.
A 287-run target looked achievable for India but with the way their batting has gone so far, none would count them as the clear favourites to win the game. KL Rahul’s silly dismissal proved just how fragile the Indian batting is, when it came to batting in overseas conditions. After having battled for 28 deliveries for four runs, the Karnataka batsman just threw his wicket away, offering a simple catch to Keshav Maharaj at point.
His opening partner, Murali Vijay, who had played well for 46 in the first innings also couldn’t judge a ball from Kagiso Rabada, which stayed low and disturbed the woodwork behind him. With two down for just 16 on the board, India needed an inspiring batting effort but Lungisani Ngidi sparkled on debut once again as he removed the Indian skipper, trapping him in front of the wicket for just five runs, which practically signalled the end of India’s fightback in this Test match.
However, at 35/3, the number one Test team now would need a mighty effort from Cheteshwar Pujara (11*) and Patel (5*) if they have any chance of getting the remaining 252 runs.
Brief scores- India 308 all out and 35/3 (Cheteshwar Pujara 11*, Murali Vijay 9; Lungisani Ngidi 2/14) need 252 more runs to win against South Africa 335 all out and 258 all out (AB De Villiers 80, Dean Elgar 61; Mohammad Shami 4/49) by 252 runs.