Centurion Dec 29, : .Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara extended India’s lead at 209 for the fourth Test against South Africa on Wednesday at SuperSport Park. India is at lunch at 79/3 with 32 runs.Kohli (18 not out), Pujara (12n out) are the unbeaten batsmen in an session in which the tourists score 63 runs to replace the overnight couple KL Rahul & Shardul Thakur.
Nightwatchman Thakur was a bit nervy, starting at 16:01 on the third day.Thakur left the balls out of the off-stump, and even survived Marco Jansen’s lbw chance (DRS shows him going over the stumps).Thakur responded by striking a strong uppercut to Jansen’s backward point.Kagiso Raja managed to get one from the length and take Thakur’s outer edge to Wiaan Mulder in third slip.
Pujara was able to avoid a pair by hitting Ngidi through the middle-on.Pujara drew a four-ball pacer and chipped to middle wicket, where Rabada made a catch.
Rahul was cautious and picked leg-side boundaries, but was careful.He chased Ngidi’s wide ball, then edged Dean Elgar at the first slip.
Pujara was a good crease sitter and took Mulder’s width with a brazen cut.Kohli on the other side, however, flicked glances at Mulder and Ngidi before striking Rabada twice to establish boundaries.This allowed India to escape until lunch.
The pitch offers variable bounce and seam movement to keep pacers engaged.It could make for a great second session, especially in the context of South Africa and India’s possible strategies.
Short scores: India scored 327 runs in 105.3 innings and 79/3 in 32 (KL Rahul 23, Viratkohli 18, Marco Jansen 1/1, Kagiso Rasbada 1/24).South Africa was 197 for 62.3 overs (Temba Buma 52; Mohammed Shami 5-44).
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