What happened on Day 3 of the 1st IND vs SA 2023-24 Test?

South Africa continued their dominant performance in the Centurion Test on Day 3 and ended up thumping India by an innings and 32 runs on Thursday, December 28. Resuming their first innings on 256/5, with Dean Elgar unbeaten on 140 and Marco Jansen on 3, the Proteas went on to post 408 in their first innings, gaining a significant 163-run lead.

India folded up for 131 in 34.1 overs in the second innings as Nandre Burger (4/33) and Jansen (3/36) ran through the batting line-up. Virat Kohli (76 off 82) was the lone ranger for the visitors with the willow. None of the other batters reached the 30-run mark.

India got off to a disastrous start in their second innings as skipper Rohit Sharma (0) was once again knocked over by his nemesis Kagiso Rabada. The Proteas pacer brought one in with the angle and got it to straighten late as the ball crashed into the stumps. Yashasvi Jaiswal (5) was bounced out by Burger as he couldn’t get out of the way of a short ball in time.

Shubman Gill looked good for his 26 before he was rattled by a full delivery from Jansen that angled in. Shreyas Iyer (6) also fell to the left-arm pacer, inside-edging an incoming delivery back onto his stumps.

India had lost half their side for 96 when first-innings hero KL Rahul (4) flirted at one outside off stump from Burger and was caught at second slip. It was two in two for the South African debutant as Ravichandran Ashwin (0) fended the next one to gully.

There was no resistance from the Indian lower order as Shardul Thakur (2) and Mohammed Siraj (4) found the South African pacers too hot to handle. Also, Jasprit Bumrah (0) was run out as Kohli called him back for a non-existent second run.

Amid all the carnage, Kohli looked sublime, hitting 12 fours and a six. He was the last man out, brilliantly caught by Rabada off Jansen. The fielder ran to his left from long-on and grabbed the catch on the move.

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Elgar, Jansen compound India’s misery to put South Africa in command

Earlier, South Africa’s overnight batters Elgar and Jansen kept the visitors at bay on Day 3 and ended up featuring in a 111-run stand for the sixth wicket. Elgar eased past his 150 and was looking good for a double hundred when Thakur produced a wicket-taking delivery out of nowhere.

The medium pacer strangled Elgar with a leg-side bouncer, which the left-hander could only glove to the keeper. The South African opener fell for 185 off 287 balls, a 425-minute knock which featured 28 fours.

Even as Elgar exited the scene, Jansen continued to trouble India. The tall all-rounder struck 11 fours and a six, but was stranded on 84* off 147 balls, running out of partners. Bumrah knocked over Rabada (1) and Burger (0), while injured captain Temba Bavuma did not come out to bat.