India stash away the spearheads despite Kuldeep’s profligacy

Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickleton shared an opening stand of 82 runs in the first innings at Guwahati. South Africa seemed to have gone through the morning session unscathed until an inspired bowling change meant the food sat a lot better in the Indian stomachs. Rishabh Pant summoned into the attack pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who made sure Markram heard the death rattle and the spectators watching the inaugural Test at the venue found their voice.

He dovetailed with Mohammed Siraj to bowl 62 overs which reaped four wickets, including the wicket of centurion Senuran Muthuswamy. Strangely enough, India stashed away the seam merchants in the second essay, particularly during the hundred partnership between Tristan Stubbs and Tony de Zorzi, as their combined output was merely 11 overs on a red-soil pitch featuring the kind of carry seldom seen in the subcontinent. If the fact that Marco Jansen picked the most wickets with bouncers in a single innings in India since the advent of ball-by-ball records isn’t evidence enough, a stumping chance was missed on the fourth day because Washington Sundar’s off-break hit the wicketkeeper on the shoulder.

While Ravindra Jadeja and Washington were complementing each other beautifully thanks to their varying release speeds, trajectories and lines of operation, Kuldeep Yadav struggled with his lengths to represent a weak link in India’s spin troika that did the bulk of the bowling on the penultimate outing. Which begs the question why Pant persisted with the wrist-spinner instead of bringing back his quicks every now and then, especially on either side of de Zorzi’s dismissal when he was failing to land the ball in the in-between zone, inviting sweeps in front of square from Stubbs and backfoot punches from Wiaan Mulder. The new man at the crease peppered the cover fence to have a seamless start to his knock, even as the speedsters remained relegated to fielding duties.

Presenting the batting unit with an array of challenges increases the odds of taking wickets as stance, trigger and feet movement, as well as approach to the ball needs to be adjusted on short notice. An example is KL Rahul’s dismissal in the evening, beaten in the flight in Simon Harmer’s first after nine consecutive overs of pace. He lunged at the ball and committed to the shot way too early, all because his pupils had hitherto witnessed the zing of the mint-conditioned cherry. The introduction of spin demanded an immediate slowdown of the reflexes, and by the time Rahul could alter his technique the damage had been done. Instead of asking South Africa to face both fire and ice, India stuck with spin for as many as 60 overs at a stretch, leaving them accustomed to a one-dimensional threat.

Although the Proteas are known for batting with high hands and tall frames, considering the velocity they experience back home, the sweeping, conventional and reverse, was a marker of their adaptation to Indian conditions. Stubbs and de Zorzi bent low to the ground, used their reach and employed the long levers to score 41 runs through these horizontal-bat shots as their alliance reached three figures. It has handed the visitors irrevocable control of the match and, in all likelihood, rendered India to back-to-back whitewashes at home after Jadeja and Washinton foxed the top-order to lend a glimmer of hope.

South Africa did not show any urgency in the first session, an important factor in India’s harvest of three wickets for 81 runs at a scoring rate of 2.53 in 32 overs. Stubbs and de Zorzi, on the other hand, learned from the mistakes of their predecessors and forced the issue. Their proactivity spread the field out and put the innings on auto-pilot mode but India kept plugging away with their spinners due to their early success, turning a blind eye to the champion pacers. Not mixing it up in the middle overs resulted in delectable takeaways of 53/0 in the former half of the afternoon session and 60/1 in the latter, paving the way for the highest lead a touring nation has secured in India – 548.

“What we felt is that when the shadows come across the wicket in the evening, there’s something in it for the quick bowlers, so we didn’t want to declare too early and not be able to use that,’’ said South African head coach Shukri Conrad. He was spot on, with Jansen continuing to have the wood over Jaiswal in this rubber. He roughed the southpaw up with a rib-tickler before being cut uppishly for six over the cordon. Third man was pushed to the fence and the bluff came in, a full delivery aimed at the stumps that Jaiswal managed to negotiate. Albeit at the sight of another short ball, his eyes lit up and caution was thrown to the wind, the lack of room precipitating a feather on the slash.

Such a game of cat and mouse was non-existent during the middle phase as India abstained from utilizing the services of Bumrah and Siraj, and eventually though pace was given a go it came in the form of Nitish Reddy. Stubbs feasted on his military-mediums, uncorking a flatbatted pull down the ground and even a reverse scoop in pursuit of his ton.

With 90 overs of play stipulated for day five – yet plenty of action has been lost in fading light on each day – South Africa have given themselves a minimum of 106 overs to skittle India. If Temba Bavuma’s brigade goes on to claim a series sweep, it would be an impressive feather in the cap of a team that recently shrugged the ‘choking’ monkey off their back by winning the World Test Championship final against the all-conquering powerhouse that is Australia. Only once in the 21st century have India batted out more than 100 overs in the fourth innings to save a Test match – against Australia in Sydney in 2021 – so the odds are pretty much stacked in their favour.