India vs. South Africa: India a commanding lead on Day 3
On Day 3, India vs. South Africa fast bowlers took all 18 wickets, giving India a commanding lead over South Africa in the first Test.
Fast bowling is a pure thrill. India vs. South Africa Bowlers howl in, the ball bursting from their palms, bristling off the deck, past the batsmen’s startled eyes, and smacking into the keeper’s gloves.
Batters exhale, and spectators heave. Few spectacles in the game can raise the pulse and make the hair stand on end like a fast bowler at his peak. It was a common sight at SuperSport Park on Tuesday.
The series’ main story revolved around the clash of two supreme fast-bowling sides, and after a batsmen-centric first day, high-class fast bowling packs on both sides took center stage. As a result, as many as 18 wickets were lost, with pacers taking all of them.
First, in a brilliant display of merciless, destructive seam-bowling, Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada atoned for their unusual. Sluggishness on the first day by slicing through India, limiting them to 327 from their overnight score of 272/3. Then, resetting their radar, hitting a bandwidth closer to good length than back-of-length, and probing a fifth-stump line.
They bought steep bounce and enough movement to spook India’s batsmen.
However, India responded in kind, on a surface that has palpably quickened up. As it does in these climes when the pitch becomes drier and begins to sweat. After lunch, Mohammed Shami produced a spell for the ages, scything down the South African line-up as quickly as scything corn. And allied with lively bits from Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur reduced them to 197, giving India a 130-run lead. Which they extended to 146 by stumps.
Bumrah’s absence was barely felt when Shami was pounding in. Shami may have struggled in the past to find rhythm and length in the first spell of his first innings. But not this time, as he settled quickly and the batsmen couldn’t decide whether to play him on the front or back foot. When they chose the latter, he harassed them with wicked inward movement; when they decided to stride out, he harassed them with an unsettling bounce off a length. He found some nibble away from right-handed batsmen just at this time, making him deadlier.
