Visakhapatnam, Oct 4: Dean Elgar and Quinton de Kock slammed brilliant centuries and grinded the Indian bowlers as South Africa reached 385/8 at stumps on the third day of the ongoing first in Visakhapatnam on Friday (October 4).
Elgar scored brilliant 160 before getting dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja and sharing century stands with captain Faf du Plessis (55) and de Kock (111).
De Kock smashed his ton with a maximum but didn't last long after that as he was dismissed at Nelson by Ravichandran Ashwin.
India vs South Africa, 1st Test: Highlights: Mayank Agarwal makes double hundred as India in command
R Ashwin, meanwhile, completed his 27th five-wicket haul and first since 2017 as the off-spinner has bowled 41 overs in this innings. The Tamil Nadu spinner returned with figures of 128 for 5 at stumps.
Jadeja (116 for 2) and Ishant Sharma (44 for 1) were the other bowlers who picked up wickets for the hosts. Jadeja, meanwhile, touched a massive milestone as he became the fastest left-arm bowler to claim 200 Test wickets on day three of the first Test match against South Africa in Visakhapatnam. The Baroda all-rounder pipped the likes of Wasim Akram, Rangana Herath, Mitchell Johnson to enter his name in the record books.
Rohit Sharma emulates Don Bradman's record in Test
Here's how the Day 3 panned out:
Day 3: STUMPS!! South Africa are 385/8 in 118 overs, trail India by 117 runs. Ashwin returns with a fifer, while Elgar and de Kock slammed respective tons.
Bowled! R Ashwin cleans up Philander for duck with a beauty. With that he completed his 27th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. SA - 376/8 in 113.2 overs.
R Ashwin five-fer! - 27th overall - 21st at home - first since Aug 2017 - 5th vs South Africa
After 113 overs, South Africa are 376/7. 93 overs have been bowled today and 337 runs have been scored by the tourists.
Wicket!! Quinton de Kock (111) gets clean bowled by R Ashwin at Nelson with a beauty. SA - 370/7 in 109.3 overs.
DRS lost! India go upstairs to review the LBW call against Muthusamy. The ball-tracking shows the ball was going away from the wickets.
The partnership between De Kock and Muthusamy is worth 27.
Fewest Tests to 200 wkts among left-armers
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) October 4, 2019
44 Ravindra Jadeja
47 Rangana Herath
49 Mitchell Johnson
50 Mitchell Starc
51 BS Bedi/ Wasim Akram#INDvSA
SIX!! Quinton de Kock brings up his fifth Test ton in style. This is the first occasion when a wicketkeeper-batsman from South Africa has slammed a ton on Indian soil.
Senior proteas batsmen putting their hands up...👏
— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) October 4, 2019
Wicket! Dean Elgar (160) slog sweeps Ravindra Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara takes a brilliant running catch to end an epic knock. SA - 342/6 in 99.3 overs. The 164-run partnership ends. 200th Test wicket for Jadeja and he becomes the fast left-arm bowler to this milestone. He's achieved it in 44th Test.
200 Test wickets for @imjadeja 👏👏
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 4, 2019
He is the quickest amongst the left-arm bowlers to reach the mark 👌👌 pic.twitter.com/ihilr9kkWM
Team India badly missing the services of a regular fifth bowler in this game, feel commentators. Ashwin, Jadeja have been doing the bulk of bowling but not getting any rewards from the pitch while Shami and Ishant have also been ineffective on this track which looks good for batting.
150 up for Dean Elgar with a boundary off Ravindra Jadeja. He's making this knock a special one now.
300 up for South Africa.
Quinton de Kock moves on to 71* and it's the highest score from a South African wicketkeeper-batsman. Previous best was Mark Boucher's 70.
Play resumes after Tea break.
Day 3: It's tea time in Vizag. South Africa are 292/5 in 87 overs. Elgar - 133* De Kock - 69* have added 114 runs for the sixth wicket for the Proteas.
100! Another century partnership for South Africa. After Faf du Plessis, it is Quinton de Kock who's forged a century-stand with Dean Elgar. South Africa - 278/5 in 83 overs.
Fifty! Quinton de Kock brings up his 18th Test half-century. This has been a brilliant knock from the wicketkeeper-batsman.
South Africa reach 261/5 in 80 overs and India have immediately taken the second new ball. R Ashwin will bowl the first over with the new ball.
The second new ball goes to India's most successful new ball bowler in Indian conditions. Ashwin.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 4, 2019
250 comes up for Proteas with a boundary from QDK's bat against Rohit. The partnership is worth 78 off 132 deliveries.
Bowling change! Rohit Sharma has been introduced in the 79th over by skipper Virat Kohli. Can he break the partnership for the hosts?
South Africa reach 235/5 in 72 overs and they trail India by 267 runs.
It's been one of the very few rare instances where Jadeja has conceded at such a rate in an innings, especially at home. Of the 50 instances he's bowled 20+ overs, only four times has he conceded at a higher rate compared to this innings' 3.61 - all of them away from home #INDvSA
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) October 4, 2019
51-run partnership between Elgar and de Kock!
Pacer Ishant Sharma is brought in the attack.
Four, Four, SIX, Four!!! Quinton de Kock is dealing in boundaries at the moment. 20 runs for the left-handed-batsman in 4 deliveries he's faced.
200 up for the Proteas in 65 overs for the loss of 5 wickets. Elgar - 107* and De Kock - 8* are present in the middle for the visitors.
Dean Elgar brings up his 12th Test Century with a maximum. Top innings from the Protea opener.
Wicket! Ashwin breaks the 115-run partnership as he gets rid of Faf du Plessis for 55. Pujara takes a fine catch at leg slip. First wicket for a spinner today. SA - 178/5 in 57.3 overs.
101-run-partnership between Dean Elgar and Faf du Plessis. SA - 164/4 in 54 overs.
Fifty! Faf du Plessis brings up his 20th Test half-century. South Africa 158/4.
R Ashwin will bowl the second over with a slip and a leg slip.
2nd Session! Batsmen and fielders walk into the middle to resume play in the second session. Faf du Plessis and Elgar would be looking to extend their 90-run partnership further. Mohammed Shami starts for India.