Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara crossed the first big hurdle ahead of them - the much-talked about first hour of the morning session when the ball is still new and shiny and the pace qaurtet spewing venom - and even played out more deliveries than the openers and Virat Kohli did, put together. There was a genuine hint of a gritty resurrection, until Kagiso Rabada came along.
Rabada fired one in at 144kmphs - fast, full and angled in to Rohit, who didn't keep pace with the ball while bringing his bat down. An LBW appeal, a desperate review and Rohit's exit following, undoing most of the good work that he and Pujara put in together.
The day began with Rohit and Pujara facing the herculean task of combating four relentless fast bowlers, while trying to push the team total forward. The latter turned out to be tougher than it looked as they had to toil really hard for every single run. Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn started off without offering an inch to the two batters, and a run in the first four overs. Philander was particularly menacing, finding himself a spot on good length and hitting it with ridiculous accuracy while getting the ball to seam either way.
Even as runs didn't come easily, Rohit and Pujara did well to not commit any mistakes or chase at deliveries - something each of the three batters who fell on Day 1 did. Faf du Plessis shuffled things around when the all-important breakthrough didn't come, putting Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada on the job.
Like he did on Day 1, Rabada started by rattling the speedometer, going past the 140-mark regularly and even stretching beyond 145 at times. It was his pace that Rohit couldn't deal with, and the signs were there from the beginning. In only his second over of the day, Rabada was left with his hands on his head when Rohit fell for a fullish delivery and pushed at it, but ended up nicking it. That however, flew through the gap between the third slip and gully fielder, giving Rohit a life, that extended his stay only until Rabada's next over.
Ravichandran Ashwin was welcome with a stinging short ball that struck his bowling thumb, and was constantly served with some chin music, but he survived. At the other end, there was Cheteshwar Pujara, who too had seen off a morning session where he either let balls go or somehow get behind it, while also dealing with an odd stare from Dale Steyn and a sledge or two from Rabada.
At Lunch, India had crawled to 76 for 4 - having added 48 runs off 25 overs in a rivetting morning session. The Indian camp would've been relieved that only one wicket was lost and one of the two batsmen who began the day was still there, battling it out. But, South Africa too would've returned with a feeling of having owned the session as the Rabada wicket gives them a crack at the lower-order when play resumes.
Brief scores: South Africa 286 (Ab de Villiers 65, Faf du Plessis 62; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-87) lead India 76/4 (Cheteshwar Pujara 26*; Rabada 1-15) by 210 runs.
