India squandered a dominant position early on the third day of the first Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion as South African pacers came roaring back in the game with a remarkable spell of pace bowling.
The tourists started the third day at 272/3 with two set batsmen KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane starting the proceedings but they fell quickly off the clip with both the men falling right after the start of the day. Rahul was cramped on a short delivery from Kagiso Rabada while Rahane was guilty of attempting a cut off ball that was too close to his body.
Rishabh Pant did not embolden India’s innings and fell to Lungi Ngidi to give the pacer his fifth wicket of the innings while Ravichandran Ashwin fell to Rabada to leave India in tatters.
From 278/3, India lost their last seven wickets in a span 0f 11 and a half overs and where they could add only 49 runs. The last pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj added 19 runs for the last wicket but the former gifted the struggling left-arm pacer Marco Jansen his first wicket in the longest format on his debut.
Rabada picked up three wickets while Ngidi was the most successful bowler with a six-wicket haul.
For India, the opening pair of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal were the batting heroes while Rahane contributed massively to their total on the first day.