A staggering 20 wickets fell on a dramatic second day as India shot out South Africa for a record-low first innings score of 79 before setting the visitors a formidable target of 310 to win the third and penultimate cricket Test and clinch the series.
At stumps at the VCA Ground, Jamtha, South Africa were struggling at 32 for two with opener Dean Elgar (10) and captain Hashim Amla (3) battling it out at the crease after the dismissals of Stiaan van Zyl (5) and night watchman Imran Tahir (8).
On a pitch that saw vicious turn, a record 20 wickets fell during the day after the dozen yesterday to turn the contest into a lop-sided one in favour of the spinners.
This is the highest wicket-fall in a single day in India after 20 wickets fell in a day during the India versus Australia match in Mumbai, 2004.
India, after taking a handy lead of 136 runs, went for quick runs and were all out for 173 in the second, which left the visitors with more than three full days to get 278 more runs to win the game and keep the series alive for the fourth tie at Delhi commencing on December 3.Considering the state of the pitch and the happenings of the first two days, the match is all set to end on the third day, most probably in favour of India that will mark an end to South Africa’s enviable nine-year unbeaten Test series away from home record as they are trailing the hosts 0-1 in the four-game rubber.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan (39), one-down Cheteshwar Pujara (31) and no. 6 Rohit Sharma (23) were the only batsmen in the Indian second innings to get into the 20s as leg-spinner Tahir picked up five wickets and speedster Morne Morkel got three.
In the morning itself expectations were high that the Indian spinners would create mayhem on the venomous track after the Proteas resumed at the overnight 11 for 2 in reply to the hosts’ modest tally of 215.
True to predictions, Ravichandran Ashwin (5 for 32), Ravindra Jadeja (4 for 33) and Amit Mishra (1 for 9) combined forces to slice through the nervous Proteas’ batting order and shoot them out for their 12th lowest Test score and their worst since readmission to international cricket in the early 1990s.
The visitors lost eight wickets this morning after resuming at the overnight score, in one and a half hours’ batting during which they faced 24.1 overs.
None of the Proteas’ batsmen, barring to some extent left handed Jean-Paul Duminy, who top-scored with 35 in 65 balls and 71 minutes after being let-off twice, showed inclination or skill to counter the threat posed by Ashwin and Jadeja.
Off-spinner Ashwin bowled unchanged for 16.1 overs from the end opposite to the pavilion to return with his 14th five-wicket in an innings haul in his 31st game.
Having accounted for the wicket of opener van Zyl last evening, he added the wickets of the other opener Dean Elgar, rival skipper Amla, Simon Harmer and Morne Morkel by making the ball ‘talk’ on a spiteful pitch.
left-arm spinner Jadeja was not too far behind and sent back danger man AB de Villiers for a duck, Faf du Plessis and Dane Vilas today to add to his wicket kitty that already had Tahir on Wednesday.
Mishra, brought into the attack late in the pre-lunch session, got rid of the stubborn Duminy who was let off by Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Wriddhiman Saha, both off Ashwin’s bowling earlier.
India lost in-form opener Murali Vijay (5) cheaply to Morne Morkel before Shikhar Dhawan (39) and Cheteshwar Pujara (31) added 44 runs to help India cross the 50 mark. In fact, India were cruising along nicely at 97 for 2 when Tahir struck quick blows by grabbing three wickets in 11 balls spread over different overs by getting rid of Dhawan, Kohli and Rahane in quick time.
Brief Scores
India: 215 & 173 (Dhawan 39, Tahir 5/38) lead South Africa: 79 (Ashwin 5/32, Jadeja 4/33) and 32/2 by 278 runs.
‘Demon not in pitch, in batsmen’s mind’
Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar defended the nature of Jamtha track, saying it is poor “technique” of the batsmen and not any “demon” in the pitch that resulted in South Africa being bundled out for a paltry 79 during the third cricket Test here.
“Can we not actually be absolutely upright and question the technique of the batsman of both the teams. Why are we shying away from that and blaming the pitchIJ It is a typical Indian pitch where the ball is going to turn. The demons are there in the batsmen’s mind, the demon is not in the surface,” Gavaskar told NDTV.
“When it is spinning and turning and bouncing then I would say that yes, the pitch has got something to do with it. Yes, it’s not a great wicket to bat on, I agree, but do not blame this wickets for so many wickets to have fallen so far. It’s been terrible batting by both teams,” he said.