India might have lost Mayank Agarwal’s at the cusp of the Stumps but the visitors still ended Day Three of the first Test against South Africa in the driver’s seat on Tuesday.
India had bundled out South Africa for 197 in the third session before the hosts lost Mayank’s wicket minutes before the end of the play. Shardul Thakur, KL Rahul then took India to 16/1 at Stumps with a lead of 146 runs. In the third session, Mohammed Shami picked five wickets as India folded South Africa for 197 in the first innings to get a 130-run lead. Shami also completed 200 Test wickets as Indian bowlers dominated the proceedings.
In the second session, India took four wickets as wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock departed on the stroke of the break. Resuming the post-lunch session at 21/1 South African batters looked in complete disarray as in the third ball itself Mohammed Shami cleaned up Keegan Petersen for just 15.
Mohammed Siraj too joined the party as he dismissed Rassie van der Dussen caught in the gully by Ajinkya Rahane to leave the Proteas tottering at 32 for 4. In the very next ball, Siraj produced yet another gem this time to South Africa’s wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock but KL Rahul floored it. Temba Bavuma and de Kock survived the onslaught to take the hosts beyond the 50-run mark
In the first session, a total of eight wickets fell as India were bowled out for 327 while South Africa ended the essay at 21/1.
Rishabh Pant on Tuesday became the fastest Indian wicket-keeper to reach 100 dismissals in the longest format of the game. Pant achieved the feat on Day Three of the ongoing first Test against South Africa. The left-handed batter broke former skipper MS Dhoni’s record to reach 100 dismissals. While Pant reached the milestone in 26 matches, Dhoni had taken 36 games to reach 100 dismissals. Kiran More (39) and Nayan Mongia (26) are third and fourth in the list respectively.
Brief Scores: India 327/10 and 16/1 (KL Rahul 5, Marco Jansen 1-4) vs SA 197/10 (Temba Bavuma 52, Quinton de Kock 34; Mohammed Shami 5/44)