India vs South Africa: Visitors on the verge of series sweep

South Africa declared their second innings at 260 for five and set an improbable target of 549. India finished the day at 27 for two.

Guwahati: India's chances of saving the second Test and salvaging pride appeared to fade as rapidly as the sun sets in this part of the country.

Needing to bat about 95 overs to secure a draw -- the win was out of question after South Africa declared their second innings at 260 for five and set an improbable target of 549 -- India finished the fourth and penultimate day of the second Test at 27 for two in 15.5 overs here at the ACA Stadium on Tuesday. 

Both the India openers were back in the hut by the 10th over while Sai Sudharsan (2 n.o.) and nightwatchman Kuldeep Yadav (4 n.o.) would resume batting on Wednesday's final day with 522 runs in arrears.

To rub salt into India's wounds, South African coach Shukri Conrad, addressing the media later, invoked Tony Grieg's infamous "grovel" remark in 1976 aimed at Clive Lloyd's West Indies and said: "We really wanted them (India) grovel."

The statement won't go down well with the BCCI, but will the Indian team show the same resolve as the West Indies and draw the match from here?

While a draw will still not prevent them from losing another home series, it will certainly restore some respect for the team.      

Coming back to India's second innings, Yashasvi Jaiswal has employed the cut, which comes with a certain amount of risk, to gather a significant amount of runs in his fledgling career. But it has cost him his wicket in recent times. For the second time in this match, the southpaw fell to an attempted cut, only managing an edge to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne.

KL Rahul's dismissal was an even bigger blow to India's hopes of a draw for he is the only other batter in this line-up, apart from Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja, who can bat time. Simon Harmer, however, cut short his stay with a beautiful delivery. The off-spinner tossed one up to draw Rahul for a front foot defence but the ball landed a touch slower and turned sharply to bowl the right-hander through the gate and brought South Africa closer to a rare Test series win.       

South Africa, overnight 26/0 and already enjoying a cushion of 314, didn't show any urgency on fourth day's resumption even as Jadeja (4/62) and Washington (1/67) purchased some appreciable turn. Ryan Rickelton (35) and Aiden Markram (29), however, survived some anxious moments extending the overnight stand to 59 before Jadeja struck first of his four wickets with Rickelton's intended drive failing to clear Mohammed Siraj at cover.  The veteran bowler soon castled Markram with classic left-arm spinner's stock ball, the ball gripping, turning in and beating the defences of the forward-pressing right-hander.

With a lead of 362 and still eight wickets in hand, South Africa weren't particularly in danger but it was understandable as to why they wanted to bat first till lunch and then beyond. Their first priority was obviously to shut India out of the match and secure the series win that was coming their way after a gap of 25 years in India. Tristan Stubbs (96) and Tony de Zorzi (49) added 101 runs for the fourth wicket while another 82 runs came between Stubbs and Wiaan Mulder (35 n.o.) taking their lead past 500. Their first mission accomplished after all their batters, barring skipper Temba Bavuma, made notable contributions, the visitors waited for Stubbs to complete his century. 

Needing 40 runs at the resumption of the final session, the right-hander stepped on the accelerator and was one hit away from his third Test hundred, but had his off-stump pegged back when he missed the ball while attempting a slog off Jadeja. Expectedly, the declaration came immediately after his dismissal with India needing to negotiate 18 overs for the day. With fading light causing another early finish, India batted less than 16 but they were enough for Proteas to make inroads. 

SCORE BOARD

SOUTH AFRICA (I Innings): 489

INDIA (I Innings): 201

SOUTH AFRICA (II Innings; O/n: 26/0):

Rickelton c Siraj b Jadeja 35

(64b, 4x4)

Markram b Jadeja 29

(84b, 3x4)

Stubbs b Jadeja 94

(180b, 9x4, 1x6)

Bavuma c Nitish b Washington 3

(11b)

De Zorzi lbw Jadeja 49

(68b, 4x4, 1x6)

Mulder (not out) 35

(69b, 5x4)

Extras (B-9, NB-5, W-1) 15

Total (decl. for 5 wkts, 78.3 overs) 260

Fall of wickets: 1-59 (Rickelton), 2-74 (Markram), 3-77 (Bavuma), 4-178 (de Zorzi), 5-260 (Stubbs).

Bowling: Bumrah 6-0-22-0 (nb-1), Siraj 5-1-19-0, Jadeja 28.3-3-62-4 (nb-4), Kuldeep 12-0-48-0, Washington 22-2-67-1, Jaiswal 1-0-9-0, Nitish 4-0-24-0.

INDIA (II Innings):

Jaiswal c Verreynne b Jansen 13

(19b, 1x4, 1x6)

Rahul b Harmer 6

(30b)

Sudharsan (batting) 2

(25b)

Kuldeep (batting) 4

(22b, 1x4)

Extras (LB-1, NB-1) 2

Total (for 2 wkts, 15.5 overs) 27

Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Jaiswal), 2-21 (Rahul).

Bowling: Jansen 5-1-14-1, Mulder 4-1-6-0 (nb-1), Harmer 3.5-2-1-1, Maharaj 3-1-5-0.