After India only added 55 to their overnight score of 272/3, their bowlers, led by Mohammed Shami (5-44), secured a 130-run first-innings lead. India lost Mayank Agarwal before stumps to finish on 16/1, with K.L. Rahul and night-watch Shardul Thakur at the crease. With rain predicted on Day 5, they will want to go for quick runs on the fourth morning.
After rain washed out all of Day 2, Day 3 started at a frantic pace. India lost their a wicket in the fourth over, and the first session saw eight wickets go down, for just 76 runs. Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane took the logical approach of playing their shots from the start instead of waiting for Wiaan Mulder and Marco Jansen to come on; they perished in the process.
Kagiso Rabada had Rahul (123) top-edging a pull to Quinton de Kock after the latter added just a run to his overnight total. Rahane reached 48 before chasing one outside off from Lungi Ngidi and edging. Rishabh Pant began aggressively before Ngidi had him caught at short leg.
None of R. Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, and Shami lasted, but Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, the last two batters, added 19 to take India to 327 as Ngidi finished with 6-71 and Rabada 3-72. Jansen, too, got his maiden Test wicket, of Bumrah.
Bumrah began brilliantly, in response. He bowled a near-unplayable ball in the first over to find Dean Elgar's edge in the little time left before lunch. After the break, Shami bowled Keegan Petersen and Aiden Markram. Then Bumrah sprained his right ankle while finishing his follow-through and had to leave, but Siraj, replacing Bumrah, had Rassie van der Dussen caught at gully. Within six overs after lunch, South Africa were left reeling at 32/4.
Siraj also found de Kock's edge in the same over before the latter got a run, but Rahul dropped a difficult chance in the slips. Temba Bavuma and de Kock, capitalising on Bumrah's absence, added 72 as neither Thakur nor Ashwin looked threatening. Then, just before tea, de Kock (34) chopped one on to the stumps from Thakur, and South Africa went to tea at 109/5.
Bavuma opened up after tea, with Mulder for company. He hit three fours in an over from Thakur, but Shami had Mulder caught behind at the other end. Bavuma bought his fifty with a four, but fell next ball for 52, to Shami. Rabada hit Ashwin for a straight six, but Thakur trapped Jansen leg-before on 181. The review could not save Jansen.
The wicket of Rabada was Shami's fifth of the innings and the 200th of his career. He became the fifth Indian fast bowler – after Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, and Ishant Sharma – to reach the milestone. Bumrah mopped things up with the last wicket, and South Africa were bowled out for 197.
Brief scores: India 327 (K.L. Rahul 123; Lungi Ngidi 6-71) and 16/1 (K.L. Rahul 5*; Marco Jansen 1-4) lead South Africa 197 (Temba Bavuma 52; Mohammed Shami 5-44) by 146 runs.