- India trail by 522 runs heading into final day
- Jansen’s short-ball burst and Harmer’s magic rock top order
- Proteas eye first Test series win in India in 25 years
South Africa closed in on a landmark 2-0 series win in India after dominating Day 4 of the Guwahati Test, leaving the hosts needing an improbable 522 runs with just eight wickets in hand.
After grinding for nearly five hours to set India a record-breaking target, the Proteas unleashed Marco Jansen and Simon Harmer under fading evening light and the pitch instantly transformed. Jansen dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal with a sharp, rising delivery, while Harmer produced a dream offbreak to send KL Rahul’s stumps flying and nearly trapped Sai Sudharsan moments later.
Earlier in the day, South Africa batted with patience rather than urgency despite holding a commanding lead. Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar threatened with turn and bounce, but Tristan Stubbs and Tony de Zorzi stitched a crucial 101-run stand built almost entirely on sweeps and reverse sweeps. Stubbs fell for 94, finishing the series as the highest run-scorer with 163.
India’s response was tense and uncomfortable from the first over, as Jansen’s short-pitched barrage exposed the pitch’s unpredictable behaviour. Jaiswal once again fell to his favourite cut shot, the seventh time he has been dismissed by it against pace while Rahul’s gritty 30-ball stay was ended by a ball that drifted, dipped and spun wickedly from Harmer.
India survived till stumps, but the damage is deep. South Africa enter the final day needing just eight wickets on the last day to complete a rare whitewash and their first series victory on Indian soil in a quarter century.
