It was an extraordinary day of test match cricket, as India showed a lot of heart and grit to put themselves in to a wonderful position to win the match.
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Kohli, Rahane and Bhuvneshwar Kumar played superbly with the bat, as they took India to a very healthy score of 247.
The Indian skipper set the tone earlier in the day, when Virat Kohli played a classy innings and batted with a degree of freedom that was conspicuously absent from other batsmen.
His 41 was worth it’s weight in gold, as Kohli played a crucial innings before he was dismissed by a peach from Rabada. Kohli was followed by Pandya, as the Baroda batsman once again failed to make much of an impression.
Rahane and Bhuvneshwar then put together a superb partnership, as the pair scored briskly and carried India to a superb position in the game.
After being dropped for the first two test matches, Ajinkya Rahane top scored with 48, as he showed the quality that India sorely missed in the previous two test matches.
One must not forget the contributions of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami, as the bowling pair put on some crucial runs that took India past 200.
The South Africans were visibly frustrated, as India finally set them a very tough target of 241 runs to win.
In reply, Shami got rid of Markram early on as the Indian pacer looked fired up after his batting exploits earlier in the evening.
But the biggest moment of the day happened when Dean Elgar was hit on his head by a Bumrah bouncer. The opener looked distressed as the umpires once again consulted with each other, and then decided to call the players off the pitch.
Virat Kohli was besides himself, as the Indian captain did not want his team to leave the field. Kohli stormed off the pitch and straight into the match referee’s office, with Faf du Plessis soon joining him in the room.
Social media went ablaze, as many people felt that Elgar was making a meal out of this situation. The umpires though had to take a decision, and eventually decided to stop the match for the day.
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