On another challenging day of Test cricket that stretched the patience of both sides, South Africa closed in on the series victory that they have craved since their 2015 humbling in India. After scraping together a target of 287, they reduced India to 35 for 3 at Stumps on the fourth day, still needing an improbable 252 runs for victory. There is still work to be done by South Africa, but crucially they have removed the one batsman capable of leaving doubt in their minds.
Virat Kohli was one of the three batsmen dismissed, and the nature of two of the three dismissals will also give the Proteas encouragement when they resume their quest for victory on Wednesday (January 17). Both Kohli and Murali Vijay will have trudged off knowing there was little that they could have done after their deliveries shot through at a low height. While Vijay played on as Kagiso Rabada got one to keep low and nip back in, the delivery from Lungi Ngidi to Kohli shot through to pin the Indian captain dead in front. Kohli's hopeful (or perhaps hopeless) review only prolonged his agony, and allowed Ngidi a parting verbal shot once the three reds had come up on the screen.
Ngidi finished with 2 for 14 from an impressive six-over spell that began with KL Rahul guiding his first delivery tamely to backward point. On a pitch where runs and wickets both had to be earned, it was the sort of soft dismissal that India could ill-afford. Cheteshwar Pujara was his usual composed self and reached Stumps unbeaten on 11, while Parthiv Patel endured a rather less comfortable time after his promotion to No 5. The left-hander was struck a fierce blow on the bottom rib by Ngidi and regularly played and missed, but ultimately he lived to fight another day. It will be with hope rather than expectation.
As on the previous days, only one player from the main batting side was capable of scoring at a good rate. With South Africa resuming on 90 for 2, it was once again AB de Villiers who ticked along in the early parts of the day. While he was at the crease, South Africa added 54 runs in 12 overs. After he fell, they scored a further 114 runs in 50.2 overs. Essentially it was hard work for the mortals.
It was also a case where wickets fell in pairs throughout the day. After they had extended their third-wicket stand to 141, de Villiers and Dean Elgar fell in a smart spell from Mohammed Shami that also yielded the dismissal of Quinton de Kock. It was extra bounce that did de Villiers in as he attempted to dab a rising delivery down to third man and edged through to the wicketkeeper for 80. Elgar's dismissal for 61 was more disappointing, particularly given how hard he had to work for his runs, as he picked out deep square leg with the pull shot.
The next over brought a critical moment in the series - arguably the most critical - as Ravichandran Ashwin found the edge of Faf du Plessis's bat and the ball flew past KL Rahul at slip. Du Plessis was on 6 at the time, and South Africa led by 179. If Rahul had accepted the sharp chance then India would soon have been into the bowlers - particularly with de Kock extending his poor run of form. Shami's next over began with the left-hander edging three consecutive deliveries through, over or past the two slips in place for four. Perhaps inevitably, his luck ran out when he edged the next ball through to the 'keeper.
His departure forced South Africa to go into lock-down mode. Du Plessis and Vernon Philander scratched the lead past the 200-mark just in time for Lunch, then added just 36 runs in 18 soporific overs after the interval before the partnership ended tamely with Philander lobbing a pull off Ishant Sharma to midwicket. He had faced 85 deliveries for his 26 - a slow but valuable innings that helped South Africa edge towards the sort of lead they could have confidence in.
Du Plessis saw them through to Tea on 230 for 7, which meant that India were already looking at a record chase - the previous highest being England's 251 for 8 in the infamously manipulated 'Hansie Test' of 2000. The captain had reached a patient 48 from 141 balls when he chipped a return catch to Jasprit Bumrah. Ashwin claimed the final scalp of the innings to get one into the wickets column, his final figures reading 1 for 78. The three seamers had rather better returns after retaining their patience through a hot day, with Shami leading the way with 4 for 49 from 16 overs.
When South Africa emerged onto the field it was announced that Aiden Markram would not be fielding after picking up a mild left quadricep strain. The hosts are confident that he will recover in time for the third Test at the Wanderers next Wednesday (January 24). Only an unexpected rearguard from India can prevent that third Test from being a dead rubber.
Brief Scores: South Africa 335 & 258 (AB de Villiers 80, Dean Elgar 61, Mohammed Shami 4-49) lead India 307 & 35/3 (Lungi Ngidi 2-14, Kagiso Rabada 1-9) by 252 runs.
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