IND vs SA: India on the brink of another home-series defeat

Following the first 2 days of dominance, the South African side continued to dominate day 3 of the second and final test match of the ongoing 2-match test series between India and South Africa. At the stumps on day 3, South Africa ends with a mammoth 314-run lead, and they still have 10 wickets in hand. 

They have almost reached a historic away series victory on Indian soil after almost 26 years. South Africa bowled out the Indian side for just 201 runs in the first innings and took a 288-run lead. After this, they didn’t enforce the follow-on and batted again, scoring 26/0 at Stumps. 

The Indian team started the day at 9 for no loss. Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul made a 65-run partnership for the first wicket. Keshav Maharaj dismissed KL Rahul on 22 runs. After this, the Indian batting order once again collapsed, and the cricket score turned from 65/1 to 122/7. The Indian team just lost 7 wickets in just 57 runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored the highest, 58 runs.

However, following that, the Indian top order and middle order collapsed like a pack of cards. Sai Sudharsan scored 15 runs, Dhruv Jurel didn’t open his account, Rishabh Pant (7), Ravindra Jadeja (6), and Nitish Kumar Reddy (10) didn’t contribute as much as their potential, and the Indian team suddenly came into a solid problem. 

From here, Washington Sundar put up a 72-run partnership with Kuldeep Yadav for the 8th wicket. Sundar scored 48 runs, while Kuldeep Yadav contributed 19 runs. However, before Sundar completed his fifty, Simon Harmer dismissed him. Following Sundar’s wicket, the Indian team lost the remaining wickets for just 7 runs. 

For South Africa, Marco Jansen took 6 wickets, while Simon Harmer dismissed 3 batters. Keshav Maharaj also contributed with 1 wicket. 

Despite the Indian team failing to reach on 290-run mark to refusing the follow-on, South African skipper Temba Bavuma didn’t enforce the follow-on to men-in-blue. Following this, South Africa batted again and ensured to didn’t lose any wickets. At the stumps, Ryan Rickelton is playing on 13 while Aiden Markram is contributing to him with 12 runs. 

The South African side is currently in the driving seat. They have already achieved a huge lead, and on the fourth day, they will want to convert this lead into a mammoth target, which the Indian team cannot even think of chasing.

On the other hand, the Indian team had already lost the first test, which caused India not to think of playing a draw. India will have to do something miraculous to equal this series; otherwise, the reigning world test champions, South Africa, will rewrite another history after claiming the WTC 2025 title.