Dangerous Wanderers wicket threatens the third test

India went to lunch on day three of the third test against South Africa at Wanderers sitting on 100/4 and a second innings lead of 93 runs.

The focus of the first innings was firmly on umpires Ian Gould and Aleem Dar‚ who consulted a few times with the two captains as the pitch produced dangerous uneven bounce that threatened the safety of the Indian batsmen.

Before they made their way back to the dressing room‚ Gould and Dar had a conversation with Wanderers groundman Bethuel Buthelezi and consultant Chris Scott as concerns about the pitch increased.

Despite the potentially dangerous pitch‚ Kohli was looking good on 27 off 49 balls and he will be joined by Anjikya Rahane when play resumes because Murali Vijay was dismissed on the last ball of the session by Kagiso Rabada having scored 25 runs.

The visitors added 51 runs to their overnight score of 49/1 and they will look ahead to the rest of their second innings with optimism because their inspirational skipper Kohli‚ the only player to score a century in this series‚ is still in the game.

South African captain Faf du Plessis will be satisfied with his team’s work as the Proteas managed to get three wickets in a session where his bowlers bullied the Indian batsmen with body blows that kept visiting physiotherapist Patrick Farhart busy.

South Africa got the breakthrough after 12 balls in the innings when Rahul edged to second slip from where Du Plessis claimed a simple catch from the bowling of Vernon Philander with the Indian batsman having scored 16 runs.

Four overs later Pujara‚ who scored a hard-fought half century in the first innings‚ departed for just one run off 10 deliveries after Du Plessis took another routine catch at second slip form the bowling of Morne Morkel.

The third wicket to fall came from the last ball before the break when Rababa crushed Vijay’s stumps with a properly executed yorker that gave the Indian opener no chance and South Africa some momentum.