While they bowled in a disciplined manner leaving little room for the batsmen to take any liberty, spinner Piedt and pacer Kyle Abbott, two of the three changes in the South African XI, bowled exceptionally well and took all the seven wickets.
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The Feroz Shah Kotla pitch was deemed to be the best of the series and yet, the third innings of the Test is upon us nice and early on the third day of the fourth and final match between India and South Africa.
After bowling the tourists out for 121 on the second day, Kohli opted against enforcing the follow-on and ended the day unbeaten on 83 as he and Ajinkya Rahane saw India to 190 for four at the close – a lead of 403. If only South Africa were able to do this on a consistent manner.
“There was some very good bowling from the Indian side, especially from the spinners”.
With wickets tumbling at the other end, AB de Villiers waged a lone battle before holing out for 42.
Five balls into the final session, Jadeja (5-30) castled Bavuma to get his first wicket of the innings. The overnight pair of Ashwin (L) and Rahane looked confident in their approach and the latter went on to add 11 runs to his overnight total, and bring up a well-deserved hundred. The Mumbaikar accelerated right after reaching the 3 figure mark and hit a couple of sixes of Dane Piedt but was finally caught by A B de Villiers while trying to hit Imran Tahir for an inside out lofted drive.
In the 15th over of the innings Umesh Yadav (2-32) produced an outswinger that took Dean Elgar’s (17) edge and flew to the keeper, who made no mistake. “I knew I was batting really well in the series and I just needed to spend some time in the middle”, said Rahane.
Patience was key to Ajinkya Rahane scoring an impressive 127 against South Africa to help give India control of the fourth Test on Friday.
Rahane then struck Dane Piedt (4-117) for two sixes in the 97th over.
Rahane, who shared 98 runs with Ashwin, helped India steady the boat after they were reeling at 139-6 at one stage. Only in the previous over, he was let off by Amla, who dropped an easy catch at first slip, but soon after, Rohit played an appalling stroke to throw his wicket away.
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Temba Bavuma (20) dragged a Jadeja delivery onto his stumps, Hashim Amla (3) fell after a 34-ball ordeal and Faf du Plessis recorded his third duck of the series after playing a scoop shot. Ravichandran Ashwin (2-26) and Ishant Sharma (1-28) also joined the party, helping India end the day on a high.
