South Africa 335 and 90 for 2 (De Villiers 50*, Elgar 36*, Bumrah 2-30) lead India 307 (Kohli 153, Morkel 4-60) by 118 runs
Virat Kohli’s 21st Test hundred and two early wickets from Jasprit Bumrah kept India’s bid for a series-levelling win alive, but AB de Villiers’ skill and enterprise ensured South Africa remained in control of the Centurion Test. Having secured a 28-run first-innings lead, South Africa were 90 for 2 when bad light ended play ten overs into the post-tea session, with de Villiers having just brought up a fluent half-century. Dean Elgar was at the other end, on an ungainly but undefeated 36.
A tendency for indifferent bounce had been apparent even on day two of this Test match, and it grew pronounced when South Africa began their second innings. Bumrah, with his hit-the-deck style and exaggerated angle into the right-hander, accentuated the effect of this low bounce, and by the sixth over of the innings had sent back Aiden Markram and Hashim Amla in near-identical fashion: both times, he pitched the ball short of a good length, got it to skid through at knee height, and jam into pad with the batsman in midair, their muscle memory conditioning them to expect far more bounce.
It left South Africa 3 for 2, effectively 31 for 2, and with R Ashwin – who took the new ball – continually threatening both edges of the left-handed Elgar at the other end, India were piling on the pressure. The situation called for a clear-headed batsman with supreme eye and technique, and South Africa happened to have one in de Villiers.
Putting the misbehaving pitch out of his mind, he batted with great clarity and put away all the loose and marginally loose balls India offered him – they usually erred on the full side, or fed him on his pads in the quest for lbw – to race away at close to a run a ball. By tea, he had moved to 33 off 42 balls.
The post-tea session was brief and stop-start, with a short, sharp shower sending the players off the field for an hour, and the light turning murky 5.1 overs after resumption. In between, India missed a chance to send Elgar back on 29, when Bumrah, returning for his second spell, found his edge with extra bounce in the corridor. The ball flew a couple of feet to the left of the wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel, and he remained unmoved, despite Cheteshwar Pujara standing unusually wide at first slip.
Starting the day trailing by 152, India’s last five wickets added 124 before Kohli was last man out in the eighth over after lunch, chipping Morne Morkel to long-on in a bid to score quick runs with only the No. 11 Bumrah for company. – Agencies
