With the third day of this test match between South Africa and India officially over, it’s clear that one side has complete control in creating a potential sweep during this series for the first time in 20 years. As the Proteas were completely unstoppable today, their bowling plan to attack the Indian side came out better than they could have even expected.
Now leading by 300+ runs and hoping to build on that, they have done this without many stars like Kagiso Rabada or Lungi Ngidi getting a shot in this series. Knowing that Temba Bavuma continues leading them at a very high level, his ability to place fielders and take reviews at the right time were another crucial part of his game on display today.
For India, things have worsened with each passing day, and now they find themselves in a situation where the best they can do is draw. Yesterday’s performance showed that none of their bowlers had a clear plan to attack the stumps; instead, they repeated the same action every time; as a result, their confidence as a whole has clearly declined.
Although the loss of Shubhman Gill’s captinancy was going to hurt, no one realized that it would cause this much of a difference and completely decimate them. Seeing what Rishabh Pant has done as the leader so far, he’s really going to need to improve if he wants to have a leadership position moving forward, because it’s clear this sample size won’t take him anywhere.
India Batting Lineup Has An Absolute Struggle Fest And Showed They Can’t Produce Under Pressure
As most of this day three was about India’s batting, it was an absolute mess since no one could get deep or consistent innings going. As openers Yashashvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul had started on a solid partnership yesterday, that broke at 65/0, with Rahul being the first to depart. Scoring 22 runs on 60 balls from the right-end and mixing in two boundaries, his opposite partner in Jaiswal was able to reach 50, while having a 30-run combination with Sai Sudharsan. As these first few batsmen had innings filled with positives, as soon as Jaiswal, 58 runs and 8 boundaries, got caught by Marco Jansen, things started going downhill for this India unit.
With Sudharshan being the next wicket following him after scoring 15 runs, things hit a real low after Dhruv Jurel mentioned to get removed without even scoring a run. Someone who was expected to make a huge partnership with Pant, that didn’t exactly happen, and India slowly found themselves at a 119/6 stage after this collapse.
Towards the end, Washington Sundar was able to knock 48 runs to help increase his team’s score by a lot and carry Kuldeep Yadav from the other end, but after his wicket was lost, it was basically the end for India. It was quite a suprise that Kuldeep Yadav faced 134 balls, but then Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah only had a combined 7 runs to make India all-out for 201.
South Africa’s Bowling Attack Was On Fire Throughout These Innings
For the Proteas unit, their bowlers were really finding the mark and continued delivering unreal wickets that turned this match around. The one piece that really needs to be talked about is Marco Jansen, as he took 6 wickets and was not seeming to miss his line or length.
Using the real height that makes him so dangerous, he was not only attacking with yorkers, but mixing in bouncers, which made it very hard for Indian batsmen to get a bat on. Allowing just 48 runs in his 20 overs, his economy was almost unreal in these conditions, while the biggest story was that he picked up 5 maidens against some of the top batsmen that India had out there.
As their other pacer was Wiaan Mulder, he had only given up 14 runs in 10 overs, but clearly was a little off in trying to get wickets. Trying to swing the ball inside, this type of pitch wasn’t meant for his style, which caused Temba Bavuma to use his two main spinners more. As Keshav Maharaj did get 15 overs off work in, he was able to pick up one massive wicket and showed another great performance where he was able to produce turn.
Continuing to dominate, their other guy in Simon Harmer, was even better as he got 27 overs of work and something the Proteas didn’t regret. Picking up two wickets pretty early on, his prowess allowed him to close out the innings as well when Muthusamy got his overs.
What Is On The Radar For Day 4?
As South Africa head into tomorrow with a goal of adding to their quick 26-run partnership from today, they should be able to bat out a couple innings and increase the lead to around 400. Knowing that Aiden Markram has the ability to bat fast, they will use that to an advantage, while India will just try to the limit runs in that period.
After the Proteas declare at whatever total, their main hope is to get India mostly out or fully by tommorow. With spin being a major factor as the pitch has dried up, they will be relying on Senuran Muthusamy and Simon Harmer to make huge differences in this second match, so that they could bowl out India and win it.
Also Read: IND vs SA: South Africa Strike Late In Session To Surge Ahead