India vs South Africa 2018 Video Highlights, Third Test Day 3: Dangerous Pitch Forces Play to Stop on Third Day; SA 17-1 at Stumps
South Africa needed 224 runs at the end of the Day with 9 wickets in hand.
Johannesburg, Jan 26: India had an upper-hand on Day 3 of the Third Test in Test Series, as South Africa were one down for 17 runs at Stumps. Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla were at the crease when the day's play was stopped due to pitch's misbehaviour and uneven bounce.
The ball was mischievously shooting and bouncing throughout the Day and Umpires had a lot of discussions during the play. South Africa needed 224 runs at the end of the Day with 9 wickets in hand. Catch the video highlights of the Day 2 of the Third Test in Johannesburg here.
Dangerous pitch force halt of play in 3rd Test
The ball that hit Dean Elgar off Jasprit Bumrah's bowling was the trigger point of play being stopped. The match was halted by Officials and discussions with captains and coaches of both the teams began soon after. The dangerous batting conditions prevailed throughout the day even when India batted. Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammed Shami, and Ishant Sharma took many body-blows during the play but the match went on, and it did not stop.
Earlier, the match was halted as Dean Elgar was hit by a rising delivery from Mohammed Shami, forcing umpires to suspend play. The physio rushed to the pitch and Elgar was seen placing an ice-pack on his forehand. Umpires Ian Gould and Aleem Dar began discussion and soon match referee Andy Pycroft joined them. Earlier in the day, India scored 247 in their second innings.
India set South Africa a stiff target of 241-run to win 3rd Test
India set South Africa a difficult 241-run target to win the Third Test after scoring 247 in their second innings, which ended during the final session of the third day, here. Ajinkya Rahane, who sat out for the first Two tests, was the top-scorer for the Indian team. The Mumbai-batsman was the only player who was looking comfortable on the uncomfortable pitch. At no time of play, any other batsman looked comfortable to play, Rahane was playing full fluency. Rahane added 48 crucial runs on the scoreboard before he was sent back packing. Lower-order contributions from Bhuvneshwar Kumar(33) and Mohammed Shami (27) helped India extend its lead. The knocks were quite useful as India faced another top-order collapse. India is trailing the three-match series 0-2.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 26, 2018 11:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).