India stared down the barrel as a ruthless South Africa slowly tortured the home side by posting an improbable victory target of 549 that has all but ensured the visitors' first series triumph in Guwahati in 25 years at the end of the fourth day of the second Test.
After South Africa declared their second innings at 260 for 5, India were reeling at 27 for 2 at stumps on Tuesday, having lost openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (13) to Marco Jansen and KL Rahul (6) to Simon Harmer respectively.
Sai Sudharsan (2 batting) and night-watchman Kuldeep Yadav (4 batting) were at the crease, but it will take a herculean effort from the remaining batters to save the game on the final day and avoid the ignominy of a 0-2 whitewash.
The only saving grace for them could be the fact that light fades quickly in this part of the world after 3:45 pm, and not more than 80 overs have been possible on any of the past four days. Head coach Gautam Gambhir will certainly prefer a 0-1 series defeat over a 0-2 result, which would be the second series debacle at home against a SENA nation in the past 12 months.
On the fourth day, the reigning World Test Champions had two targets. First was to set a target that would be virtually out of reach. Secondly, the more time Proteas spent batting on the fourth day, the stronger became the chances of the red soil track crumbling on the fifth day.
Tristan Stubbs (94 off 180 balls), who missed out on a half-century in the first innings by a solitary run, this time fell short of a Test ton by only six runs. Once Stubbs became Ravindra Jadeja's (4/62 in 28.3 overs) fourth victim, skipper Temba Bavuma declared the second innings, having knocked the stuffing out of the Indian team by making them bowl for 78.3 overs.
Stubbs enjoyed a 101-run stand for the fourth wicket with Tony de Zorzi (49) and another 82 for the fifth wicket with Wiaan Mulder (35 not out). This followed a 50-plus opening stand between Ryan Rickleton (28) and Aiden Markram (35). Bavuma, an experienced captain, looked tactically superior compared to India's stand-in skipper Pant, who appeared bereft of ideas in his debut leadership role, albeit in a one-off game.
Bavuma could have called his men in after their lead swelled to 450, but he perhaps wanted to ensure that the SG Test remained relatively new when his men came out to bowl in the morning. They would try to exploit any help available from the surface before it flattens out.
The pitch still looks solid, even though the degree of turn has gradually increased from less than three on the first day to 4.6 on the fourth day. That was evident when Jadeja, who hardly gets any purchase in helpful batting conditions, tossed one up to Aiden Markram, luring him into a forward defensive stroke. The ball pitched on the middle stump, turned sharply away from Markram's outside edge, and clipped the off-stump.
A few overs later, Bavuma fell for a leg-side trap set by Washington Sundar as a delivery bounced and turned into his rib cage, with the tickle taken down at leg-slip by Nitish Reddy. However, after that dismissal, both Washington (1/67 in 22 overs) and Jadeja stopped getting appreciable turn, and Stubbs and De Zorzi farmed the strike with ease.
Pant's tactical calls and field placements also left a lot to be desired. He constantly switched between an "in-out" field (half close in and a few deep) to five fielders in the deep to save boundaries. At one point, it felt that the Indian team was merely playing the waiting game, looking for Bavuma to declare the innings.
The Indian skipper also couldn’t give Kuldeep (0/48 in 12 overs) more opportunities to bowl, as he was being hit for runs. Pant needed a bit of control, which Jadeja and Washington collectively provided for 50-plus overs. But despite their discipline, the duo never looked as menacing as Harmer, who has troubled the Indian batters in both innings.
Brief Scores:
South Africa: 489 & 260 for 5 declared in 78.3 overs (Ryan Rickelton 35, Aiden Markram 29, Tristan Stubbs 94, Tony de Zorzi 49; Ravindra Jadeja 4/62).
India: 201 & 27 for 2 in 15.5 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 13, KL Rahul 6).