South Africa’s Dean Elgar is being congratulated by Mohammed Siraj as he leaves the sphere after being dismissed on day 3 of the first Test in Centurion on December 28, 2023.
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Veteran Dean Elgar missed out on a well-deserved maiden double hundred however inflicted sufficient harm on India in firm of younger Marco Jansen to probably bat the guests out of the opening Test as South Africa reached 392 for 7 at lunch on the third day.
Elgar (185 off 287 balls), whose earlier highest Test rating is 199, was inching in the direction of his maiden double hundred earlier than a faint tickle to leg-side bouncer from Shardul Thakur led to his finish.
But, that didn’t deter the lanky Jansen (72 batting, 119 balls), not precisely well-known for his batting prowess, to simply negotiate a deflated Indian assault that regarded out of types as nicely bereft of concepts.
The Elgar-Jansen pair added 111 runs for the sixth wicket. With the lead already swelling to 147 runs, it will likely be a Herculean job for the Indian batters to save the sport.
The solar is thrashing down, odd balls are protecting low and survival isn’t an possibility towards a high quality Proteas assault.
The Indian bowlers have been much more disappointing on the third morning with Shardul Thakur (1/101 in 19 overs) and Prasidh Krishna (1/92 in 19 overs) sprayed all over, solely to be mercilessly punished by the previous Proteas skipper Elgar and the lanky left-arm seamer Jansen.
The pair drove, pulled, lower at their very own will and neither the outdated ball nor the semi-new ball might result in any change in fortune for the visiting workforce bowlers.
Jasprit Bumrah (2/59 in 22 overs) and Mohammed Siraj (2/90 in 22 overs) as soon as once more have been unfortunate as they repeatedly beat the bat of Elgar and Jansen however didn’t have rub of the inexperienced going their manner.
However, Prasidh and Thakur weren’t solely below-par but in addition missed each line and size. Prasidh was inducted into the squad to hit the deck and generate additional tempo off the floor however he missed the trick by constantly bowling size balls. Even somebody like Gerald Coetzee dispatched him into the stands.
On a observe that demanded bowlers to bend their backs, Thakur actually floated the deliveries, which have been hit throughout the park. When he began utilizing the brief ball tactic, Jansen hooked him for good as he didn’t have sufficient tempo to hurry the batter.
The solely bowler who got here out along with his fame intact was Ravichandran Ashwin, who for many half got here from an angular run-up however ended with figures of 1/41 in 18 overs.
But, even his effort wasn’t sufficient as Prasidh-Shardul duo, having already conceded practically 200 runs (193 in 38 overs) cumulatively in lower than 40 overs, have severely dented their workforce’s likelihood of redemption.
