Rainbow-wash looms after wicket rain

CAPITULATION India are on the verge of a 3-0 series victory after 16 South African wickets fall on the third day of the final Test in Ranchi

RANCHI: Faf du Plessis held his forward defensive pose, perhaps trying to work out in his mind what he hadn’t done right to the first ball he faced on Monday. The South Africa captain had played to the line of Umesh Yadav’s delivery, or thought he had, and yet the ball had beaten the outside of the bat and shaved off-stump. The experience of 60 Tests had told du Plessis that the delivery would come in after pitching on good length but it hadn’t, leaving him gobsmacked.

Four deliveries into the third day of the final Test at the JSCA International Stadium Complex here—two of them leaking runs on the leg side—yadav had produced a ball that burned into the minds of those who had deigned to fill some seats on a gloomy morning.

The next three South African batsmen fell to left-arm spinners with debutant Shahbaz Nadeem getting his first Test wicket before conceding a run. Mohammed Shami struck in the first over after lunch and a run out followed as South Africa, in what has been the story of the Freedom Series, caved in.

They followed on after being dismissed for 162 in 56.2 overs. South Africa were 16/3 in the first innings and 18/3 in the second, the collapse in their final innings even more spectacular. With South Africa on 132/8 at stumps, India are two wickets away from a 3-0 sweep.

“To have been almost bowled out twice in a day has been pretty poor,” said Zubayr Hamza, who top-scored with 62 in the first innings.

Yadav no longer wears a man bun and is much more than the t e a r a way qui c k who o nce knocked out Ricky Ponting’s middle stump. But since he played his first Test in November 2011, Yadav has played only 43 more, six of the last 19 including this. As India grew into an allweather attack so strong on pace that it could bowl out South Africa in South Africa six times in three Tests, Yadav wasn’t Virat Kohli’s go-to fast bowler.

He is part of this series only because Jasprit Bumrah is not. But the slide down the pecking order hasn’t dented Yadav’s selfbelief. The confidence that made him menacing on a shirtfront against Bangladesh in Hyderabad in 2017 and again at the same venue last year against West Indies. Yadav’s 6/88 against West Indies was his first fivewicket haul since January 2012. He is still looking for his third.

UMESH SIZZLES

Used in short spells, Yadav took 3/40 in the first innings and has taken 2/35 so far in the second. The length he hit and the ability to get the new ball to move in or straighten after pitching led to du Plessis and, in the second innings, Quinton de Kock playing inside the line and having their furniture disturbed. Heinrich Klaasen’s second innings dismissal was different—he fell to one from Yadav that hit his back pad.

Yadav’s direct hit ran out Kagiso Rabada. In the first innings, he ended George Linde’s fight, the debutant’s expansive drive pouched by Rohit Sharma at second slip. In the second, Dean Elgar retired hurt ducking into

Yadav’s bouncer leading to tea being called early and Theunis de Bruyn coming on as a concussion substitute. You just couldn’t keep him out of the action.

In terms of the magic, that ball from Nadeem to dismiss Temba Bavuma would be second to Yadav’s. On his home ground, Nadeem drew out Bavuma with one that pitched on middle and leg and turned, the combination of flight and spin leaving the South African stranded.

By his exalted standards, Wriddhiman Saha, replaced by Rishabh Pant in the final session after an injury, was having an ordinary day behind the wickets. He dropped Linde later, off

Nadeem, on 21 but Bavuma’s stumping he executed to perfection. Three deliveries earlier, Jadeja had ended a 9 1 - r un f ourth- wicket stand when Hamza fell after his maiden halfcentury, trying to play square off the backfoot to an arm ball.

From 107/3, South Africa were 107/5. Like India, they had lost three wickets early and had stitched a fourth-wicket stand. That is where similarities ended because to a team in transition India’s bowlers gave a lesson in accuracy and attacking lines.

Shami chiselled the corridor outside off-stump, often tempting batsmen to drive—bavuma fell for it in the second innings.