Guwahati, Nov 24 (IANS) South Africa strengthened their hold on the ongoing second Test by reducing India to 102/4 in 36 overs at tea on day three’s play here at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

Resuming from 9/0, India lost four wickets for 93 runs in 29.5 overs during the session. Despite Yashasvi Jaiswal making 58 and sharing a 65-run opening stand with KL Rahul, India began to unravel in the second half.

By the time the session ended, India experienced a dramatic collapse – losing three wickets for seven runs in a frenetic 20-ball spell, where the pitch’s slowness and turn combined with poor shot selection left them in tatters.

With India still trailing by 387 runs, they now look to captain Rishabh Pant (six not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (zero not out) to mount a fightback and keep their hopes alive of saving the series.

In the morning, Rahul and Jaiswal started cautiously and carefully handled the threat from spinners. The duo hit four boundaries together off Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder, before South Africa introduced their spinners.

With the spinners finding turn at times, Rahul began to use his feet while Jaiswal looked for a sweep and slog-sweep – something which fetched him boundaries against Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer. At the stroke of the first drinks break, Rahul’s discomfort against the turning ball eventually cost him when he went for a forward defence on a slower ball from Maharaj and edged to first slip.

Back at number three, B Sai Sudharsan appeared fluent from the start, executing his cover drives to reach the boundary ropes twice. Meanwhile, Jaiswal continued to show intent against spin and reached his fifty – the first half-century by an Indian batter in the series.

But his progress was cut short when, in an attempt to play a cheeky late dab off Harmer, the ball stopped slightly and the outside edge was caught by short third man, who made a sharp diving grab. Sudharsan’s attacking approach then led to his downfall, as a pull on a short ball from Harmer was caught by mid-wicket, who held on after a second attempt.

India suffered another setback at the tea break when Jurel attempted to pull him from well outside off-stump, but the poor shot resulted in mid-on moving across to his right to take a diving catch. With Jurel falling for an eleven-ball duck, it left South Africa firmly in control of the game and India under increasing pressure.

Brief Scores: South Africa 489 in 151.1 overs (Senuran Muthusamy 109; Kuldeep Yadav 4-115) lead India 102/4 in 36 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 58, KL Rahul 22) by 387 runs

–IANS

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