By Neil Manthorp.
@GalloImages.
Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada inspired an astonishing South African comeback which saw India collapse from their overnight 272-3 to 327 all out on the third morning of the first test at Supersport Park in Centurion on Tuesday.
Quinton de Kock took four catches as the tourists lost their last seven wickets for just 55 runs in 15.3 overs with the two fast bowlers both finding the perfect length on a pitch which was always offering more assistance to the fast bowlers than they were able to exploit on a lacklustre day one.
Rabada claimed three wickets in the morning session to complete an analysis of 26-5-72-3 while Ngidi finished with a brilliant return of 24-5-71-6.
Centurion KL Rahul was the first to go edging a delivery to de Kock which bounced more than expected with just one run added to his overnight 122. His fine innings of 123 spanned 260 deliveries and contained 16 fours and a six.
Ajinkya Rahane, too, edged Ngidi to De Kock to depart for 48 from 102 balls with nine fours. With the overnight batters gone the remaining wickets departed in quick succession. R Ashwin (4) popped a leading edge against Rabada to Keshav Maharaj at short mid-on.
Ngidi found the inside edge of Rishabh Pant (8) with Rassie van der Dussen taking a simple catch at short leg and Shardul Thakur (4) edged an ambitious drive against Ngidi into the gloves of De Kock. Mohammad Shami (8) did likewise providing De Kock with another straightforward catch.
Jasprit Bumrah struck a couple of delightful, defiant boundaries in his 14 from 17 balls before Wiaan Mulder held a sharp catch at slip to provide left-arm seamer Marco Jansen (18.3-4-69-1) with his first test wicket.
An extra eight overs have been added to each of the remaining three days to make up for some of the time lost on Monday when the entire second day’s play was washed out.
South Africa: Dean Elgar (capt), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wk), Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
India: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.