CRICKET
Day 3: Proteas need only 122 to win
South Africa ended day 3 on a score of 118 runs with the loss of just 2 wickets.
The skipper Dean Elgar will be the biggest threat for India tomorrow as he is still unbeaten on 46 runs.
Earlier, India was all-out on 266 runs in the second innings due to the superb half-centuries from Pujara and Rahane.
There were also some good batting performances down the order from Vihari and Thakur that helped India to set a target of 240 runs for South Africa.
India 1st innings 202 all-out
Rahul 50 Jensen 4-31 Ashwin 46 Olivier 3-64 Agarwal 26 Rabada 3-64
South Africa 1st innings 229 all-out
Petersen 62 Thakur 7-61 Bavuma 51 Shami 2-52 D. Elgar 28
India 2nd innings 266 all-out
Rahane 58 Ngidi 3-43 Pujara 53 Jensen 3-67 Vihar i 40* Rabada 3-77
South Africa 2nd innings 118-2
Elgar 46* Ashwin 1-14 Markram 31 Thakur 1-24
It was a brilliant display of batting from the South African top-order that put them in a strong position to equal the series.
South Africa ended the 3rd day’s play with a score of 118 for 2 while chasing 249 runs.
India made 266 runs in their second innings due to superb batting by Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, both of them scored brilliant half-centuries.
Hanuma Vihari and Shardul Thakur also played vital knocks down the order to set a fighting target of 240 on the board for South Africa to chase.
South Africa lost 2 wickets so far in their chase, but still, South Africa managed to score 118 runs before going to stumps.
The Aggressive start from South Africa
Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar played aggressively in the start to give South Africa and a good start to their chase.
The South African opening pair added 47 runs in only ten overs to put the Indian bowlers under pressure straight away.
Earlier today, Pujara and Rahane also followed this aggressive approach and got good results from this approach.
Elgar played another fighting innings for his side.
He is still unbeaten on 46 runs and he will be a key wicket for India tomorrow.
If India can somehow dismiss Elgar early on tomorrow then they will have a great chance of winning this game.
Elgar added 46 runs for the 2nd wicket with Keegan Petersen that was ended by Ashwin.
Elgar is now batting alongside Rassie van der Dussen for the 3rd wicket and both of them have added 25 runs in more than 12 overs so far.
Pujara & Rahane deliver
For India, Pujara and Rahane played with intent right from the start of the day.
Pujara played some beautiful shots early on.
When things were looking comfortable for India, Rabada struck and broke this partnership by dismissing Rahane who scored 58 runs.
In his next over, Rabada removed the other set batter Pujara on a fuller length outside off delivery that nipped back sharply to beat Pujara’s defense and he was given LBW straight away.
After the departure of both these set batters, Pant also failed to deliver and got caught behind for a duck.
India lost 6 wickets for just 184 runs and 8 wickets for 228 runs.
Hanuma Vihari and Shardul Thakur played well in the end and both of them scored crucial knocks to drag the score from 228 to 266.
Thakur got out after playing a quick-fire knock of 28 runs while Vihari remained unbeaten on 40 runs right till the end.
South Africa requires only 122 more runs to win the match with 8 wickets still in hand.