Rohit fell victim to the first ball he faced, a handsome delivery from Morkel that generally held its line with a slight outward movement after pitching on the good length spot.
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South Africa now have a huge task ahead of them. Given the sheer amount of time left, a draw seemed out of the question, but South Africa have shown themselves capable – in Adelaide three years ago and in Colombo last year – of defying that sort of logic.
Such was their defensive mindset that they scored at a rate of less than a run per over for the better part.
Skipper Hashim Amla (six) and opener Temba Bavuma (30) were the not out batsmen, scoring at barely a run an over in a dour display. It was fascinating to watch. India are in control of things and are inching towards a here nil victory.
For now, the edges weren’t finding fielders though.
The opener hit off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin over the mid-wicket fence for a six and twice dispatched paceman Ishant Sharma through the slips for four. Rahane came in at a time when India had lost a few quick wickets. Elgar wasn’t to the pitch of his straight drive, and Rahane took a comfortable catch at slip. In one match, he has turned his average around spectacularly. Walking off the field, both teams would have told themselves to stay patient and keep doing what they had been doing.
Following up on his magnificent 127 in the first innings, which was his fifth century and first in India, Rahane smashed another century to stamp his class in testing conditions.
Skipper Virat Kohli roared back to form with a scintillating unbeaten 83 as India further consolidated their position with whopping overall lead of 403 runs at stumps on the third day of the fourth and final cricket Test against South Africa in New Delhi on Saturday.
While he played 152 balls for his 52 yesterday, he took another 54 balls in the morning session to complete his remaining 48 runs.
The only major change in his batting was a willingness to go after anything remotely wide of the stumps.
In the third over of the middle period, Morkel, bowling round the wicket, bamboozled birthday boy Dhawan with a stunning yorker and spoilt his hopes of getting a good score in his first Test in his backyard.
Kohli struck 10 fours off 165 balls before he was trapped leg-before wicket by Kyle Abbott with a delivery that kept low.
Wriddhiman Saha was unbeaten on 23 at the other end.
The declaration was just around the corner.
Rahane could not be denied his hundred, though. It was an understated reaction to an outstanding achievement.
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Ajinkya Rahane, who showed dogged resistance on day three of the Test, scored rather freely on fourth day of the Test. The centurion in the first innings hit two crisp boundaries through the off-side as India moved past 200-run mark easily.
