Proteas make Indians sweat in the field as they close in on first series win on Indian soil in 25 years

South Africa have continued to tighten their grip over India as they require only eight wickets on the final day to seal a historic series victory.

India are on the ropes with South Africa landing telling blows. First, it was with the bat as the Proteas added 234 runs to their overnight total before declaring on 260 for five just after lunch, setting India an improbable 549 runs to win the match.

Then it was with the ball, just before the close of play, as Marco Jansen and Simon Harmer snapped up the wickets of openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (13 off 20) and KL Rahul (six off 29).

India will do well to pick themselves off the canvas and fight for a draw on a deteriorating day five wicket in Guwahati, with three sessions of play still to come.

In total, South Africa have given themselves three-and-a-half sessions to claim India’s 10 wickets in their second innings.

This came after the Proteas opted to bat – rather conservatively – for two-and-a-half sessions on day four and set India what would be a record chase. No team has ever chased over 400 in the fourth innings in India, the highest being the 387 India chased down against England in 2008.

Why then didn’t South Africa give themselves more time to bowl out India instead of piling on an excessive amount of runs?

“We looked at how best we were going to use the new ball,” Proteas coach Shukri Conrad explained after day four.

“In the morning, we still want a newish, hardish ball, because what we felt is that when the shadows come across the wicket in the evening, there’s something in it for the quick bowlers.

“We didn’t want to declare too early and not be able to use that.”

“We wanted the Indians to spend as much time on their feet out in the field; we wanted them to really grovel, to steal a phrase, bat them completely out of the game.”

“And then say to them, ‘Well, come and survive on the last day and an hour this evening’.”

The phrase Conrad chose to steal was from former England captain Tony Greig, who in 1976 said that his side would make the touring West Indies side “grovel”.

It became one of the most infamous descriptions in cricket at the time. Greig was born in South Africa and spent his formative years in apartheid South Africa. The term had deep racial connotations, which spurred the Caribbean side to a spectacular 3-0 series victory.

Greig later apologised for his choice of word. The racial undertone does not exist for Conrad (a brown person whose cricket career was paused by apartheid, in comparison) 50 years later, but nonetheless, it remains questionable, given the historical context.

First win

If India do manage to bat out the final day, South Africa will still claim a famous series victory in the country, their first since 2000, which remains their only series victory in the subcontinent country thus far.

However, South Africa will earn only four World Test Championship points if they draw with India in the second Test, while having a golden opportunity to push for the 12 points on offer from an outright win.

South Africa’s series victory, which seems inevitable at this point, will be India’s second series loss at home in 12 months, after they were whitewashed 3-0 by New Zealand in October and November last year.

Before that loss against the Black Caps, India had not lost a series at home in 12 years. Their fortress appears to be crumbling.

“This was going to be the big series for us,” Conrad said on how much effort his side had put into the tour to India. “Every series is big, but this is uncharted waters for us. For 25 years, we haven’t won a series here.”

‘Standing up’

During coach Conrad’s tenure as coach, several players have raised their hand when the team needed them to. On day four, it was Tristan Stubbs, who fell just six runs short of a third Test match century.

His innings was built on patience, with the 25-year-old taking 155 balls to reach 60 at the lunch break. It was strange that he batted so slowly given South Africa’s imminent declaration, but he upped the ante after the break.

The big hitter finished on 94 off 180 deliveries, before he was cleaned up by a Ravindra Jadeja delivery that spun past his attempted sweep shot. South Africa declared immediately after Stubbs’ off stump was rattled.

“The beauty of this team is that we always find someone standing up,” Conrad said.

On the final day on Wednesday, South Africa will probably rely on the spin of Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer to “stand up” again.

The wicket in Guwahati hasn’t broken up and spun as much as expected. A few deliveries from Jadeja in particular gripped and turned, but not as consistently as in Kolkata in the first Test.

India have a slim chance of batting out for a draw, but South Africa are in the driving seat for a hammering 2-0 series victory. DM