Pace quartet bowls South Africa into advantage

His partnership this time was with Hardik Pandya and brought India 99 runs for the eighth wicket. But a price cannot be placed on its value. Pandya added another chapter to the book on the merits of the counter-attack on this wicket with a gutsy 93, that may have yet kept India from being blown out of the Newlands Test by the second day. The visitors did end up conceding a massive first-innings lead of 77, which South Africa extended to 142 by close with eight wickets standing, but at least the No.1 side can claim to have offered some resistance.

The script, for a second day running, mostly went per plan for Faf du Plessis. He'd been candid about his wish for a track with pace, seam and bounce, but India's disintegration to 92 for 7 was something they hadn't bargained for even after playing four world class fast bowlers. India, who resumed on a shaky 28 for 3, didn't lack the batting nous but came up against a seam attack, which can stake a claim to be among the most fearsome ever assembled.

The chief instigator of India's rickety resistance in the first hour was Vernon Philander, who bowled five consecutive maidens to begin proceedings. With Dale Steyn alternating between his staple outswinger and the bouncer against Pujara, Philander appeared to enjoy squaring Rohit Sharma up with his away seamers for fun. To the batsmen's credit, both Rohit and Pujara tried to stay inside the line of the ball and play with their hands as close to the body as possible. The first hour brought just 17 runs from 13 overs, but India appeared to have won that mini session with their single-mindedness towards survival.

But such is the quality of this South African attack, that a wicket-taking delivery was never far away. Kagiso Rabada cranked up the pace and pushed up his length to ping flush below the knee roll. Given the importance of his wicket, he reviewed in hope and then walked off shortly thereafter. Ravichandran Ashwin walked in and copped a blow to his index finger as Rabada began hurling balls that climbed to shoulder level. But with a steady Pujara, who waited for the rarest of straight deliveries to score his runs, ensured India walked out of the first session, surprisingly with one extra casualty.

All the efforts of concentration, however, came at a price. Pujara played uncharacteristically away from his body off the first ball after the interval to give Philander the opening. Inside the next five overs, he had Ashwin and Steyn removed Wriddhiman Saha to push India to the brink of embarrassment.

It was from there, that Pandya launched his offensive. Like his peers, he searched for the ball outside his off-stump. Strangely, when on 15, he was aided by a friendly Dean Elgar, who shelled a catch off Steyn's bowling when Pandya was on 15. India's all-rounder realised the folly of his ways and set about asserting his presence. In the morning, Rabada complained to Pujara about his drives not having the legs to cross the circle, now Pandya began timing his. After 21 deliveries, he had 24 runs and nearly a quarter of India's total of 100.

Pandya continued to play his shots, adding the adventurous cut over the slip-cordon and thereby forced dramatic field changes from the opposition - including a very straight third-man. The spread-out fields coupled with the hot sun baking the pitch to a more acceptable, allowed the all-rounder to hit his gaps. He communicated effectively with Bhuvneshwar, handholding his fast bowler to bat with him.

South Africa brought on the spin of Keshav Maharaj as late as the 56th over and the left-armer took only three deliveries, to fashion a stumping chance. Quinton de Kock failed to gather the ball and allowed Pandya to add to his 50. He added 20 runs off the spinner either side of the Tea interval, moving closer to a Test century in the process. The end of Bhuvneshwar's charmed stay, caught behind off Morkel after the 1001st waft, reduced the probability of Pandya's century. South Africa upped the pressure going round the wicket and taking aim at his body. He copped a nasty blow to his box and then later nicked an attempted cut to the keeper to end his highly-entertaining innings.

The innings had helped bring the deficit to double digits, which Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar pushed past 100 inside half an hour. As South Africa looked to ride the sunset to safety by the end, Pandya struck twice, to single-handedly keep India's faint hopes hanging. Only once has a visiting team won a Test in South Africa after conceding a lead over 50 since 1992. But if more players can have days like Pandya did today, there's time for a second instance.

However, Steyn was taken to the hospital for a scan on his left heel after pulling up midway through his 18th over, shortly before Tea. Scans later revealed that there is a significant tissue damage which is likely to keep him out for four to six weeks. The 34-year-old will not bowl any further in the ongoing Test.

Brief scores: South Africa 286 (AB de Villiers 65, Faf du Plessis 62; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-87) & 65/2 (Aiden Markram 24; Hardik Pandya 2-17) lead India 209 (Hardik Pandya 93; Kagiso Rabada 3-34, Vernon Philander 3-33) by 142 runs