SA vs IND | 2nd Test, Day 3: Rabada brings Proteas back in game with wickets of Pujara, Rahane, Pant

Kagiso Rabada picked the three big wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant to lead a strong comeback from South Africa in the second hour of the first session. India slipped to a dominant position of 155/2 to 188/6 at the lunch interval on the third day of the Test.

Before the collapse, Rahane and Pujara put on a counterattacking partnership of 111 runs from the late period of the second day to the first hour of the third day. Both reached their individual fifties and put South Africa under real pressure.

After looking completely off-colour on the second day, Rabada hit the good length that was the trouble zone for the batsmen and extracted extra bounce to catch the edge of Rahane’s bat while getting one to jagg back towards Pujara to trap him in front of the stumps.

Rishabh Pant was challenged both around off stump and around his throat before he ran out of patience and tried to shift the pressure back on the pacer in his trademark style. The move, however, proved to be counterproductive and he edged to the wicketkeeper in what appeared as an ugly dismissal when the game was poised at equilibrium stage. 

Lungi Ngidi asl chipped in with the wicket of Ravichandran Ashwin and left India reeling at 188 for the loss of six wickets.

India have taken a lead of 161 runs by the lunch on the third day and they would hope the remaining batsmen, especially Hanuma Vihari and Shardul Thakur will bring their best with the bat and extend the lead beyond the 200-run mark.