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New Delhi: India endured a dismal day in the second Test against South Africa in Guwahati, finding themselves in a hole that would need a miracle to climb out of. At Stumps on Day 3, the Proteas are 26-0 in their second innings and effectively 314 without loss, leaving India a mountain to climb.
Openers Ryan Rickelton and Aiden Markram were batting on 13 and 12 respectively at the end of the day's play as South Africa faced eight overs in the final session.
After bowling the hosts out for 201 and taking a lead of 288, South Africa decided against enforcing a follow-on and, with two full days to go, are in a pole position to sweep series 2-0 and become the second team after New Zealand to inflict a series whitewash on India in their own backyard in less than a year.
In a chastening day for Indian batters, the hosts lost four wickets in the opening session, three more in the afternoon and three in the final session as South Africa gained control of the match and the series.
Washington Sundar (48) and Kuldeep Yadav (19) fought resolutely with a 72-run stand for the eighth wicket after India's middle order was dismantled by Marco Jansen, who finished with six wickets.
But for their superb partnership off 141 balls, India would have been in much deeper trouble.
Jansen, the destroyer-in-chief, removed Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy in quick succession as India lost three wickets inside six overs, which effectively ended their hopes of getting close to South Africa's first-innings total of 489.
In what was one of the worst collapses, India slumped from 95/1 to 122/7, losing six wickets for just 27 runs to hand the Proteas a massive advantage.
Only Yashasvi Jaiswal (58 off 97 balls) and Sunder (48) made useful contributions for the hosts. Jansen was the pick of the bowlers for the Proteas with figures of 6/48, while Simon Harmer took 3 wickets for 64 runs.
After a solid opening stand of 65, four Indian wickets fell in the opening session. KL Rahul (22), Sai Sudharsan (15), Dhruv Jurel (0), captain Pant (7), Jadeja (6) and Reddy (10) fell without making a notable impact.
Incidentally, South Africa was the last team to enforce a follow-on against India in India. In the Nagpur Test in 2010, the Proteas registered their previous win in the country before the start of this series.
