New Delhi, Dec 4: Ravindra Jadeja plotted South Africa’s downfall with a five-wicket haul after Ajinkya Rahane’s brilliant century as India gained complete control of the fourth cricket Test by taking a commanding 213-run lead on the second day here today.
Jadeja produced a mesmerizing spell of 5/30 to skittle out the visitors for a paltry 121 in 49.3 overs on a sporting Feroz Shah Kotla track.
The Proteas did not even bat two full sessions falling 14 runs short of saving the follow-on score of 135 after Rahane’s 127 helped India post a decent 334 in their first innings. The Indians, however, decided not to impose the follow on.
While left-arm spinner Jadeja accounted for bulk of the spoils with pin-point accuracy, it was a magical delivery by pacer Umesh Yadav (2/32) and Ishant Sharma’s (1/28) sharp bowling that remained the highlight of the final two sessions.
Ravichandran Ashwin (2/26) also increased his series wickets tally to 26 after helping himself to a half-century with the bat.
It seemed that South African batsmen had lost the battle in their heads even before they came out to face the Indian quartet on the 22 yards.
It was a combination of disciplined bowling and some reckless batting that led to South Africa’s downfall.
Once again, AB de Villiers fought a lone battle scoring 42 and was the 9th batsman to be dismissed when Ishant took a well judged catch at the long-off boundary.
With three full days left in the game, India were firmly in the driver’s seat to record a historic 3-0 win over South Africa.
