Towering left-arm paceman Marco Jansen produced a spell of fire and fury with 6-48 to bowl India out for 201 on the third day of the second Test, leaving South Africa needing just one more strong session to seal their first Test series victory in India since 2000.Resuming at 34-3 after South Africa’s mammoth first-innings 489, India never recovered as Jansen unleashed a calculated barrage of short-pitched deliveries on a surface offering consistent bounce.
The 25-year-old, standing 6ft 8in, claimed four of his six wickets with bouncers that hurried onto the batsmen and exposed technical frailties against the rising ball.Dhruv Jurel lasted only 11 balls before top-edging a pull to fine leg, Nitish Kumar Reddy fended a vicious lifter to second slip where Aiden Markram dived spectacularly, and Ravindra Jadeja gloved another sharp bumper through to the keeper. Jansen later returned to clean up the tail and record his fourth Test five-wicket haul in just his 21st match.
“To be honest, the ball wasn’t moving much off the pitch like it did in Kolkata,” Jansen said after the day’s play. “When I got my first wicket with a bouncer, we just kept going with it and thankfully it worked wonders.”
The plan was born out of necessity in the absence of Kagiso Rabada, who missed both Tests with a rib injury. Jansen, playing only his second Test in India, shouldered the responsibility and delivered what he described as a “coming-of-age” performance on traditionally spin-friendly subcontinental wickets.South Africa, already 1-0 up after their victory in Kolkata, now stand on the brink of only their second-ever Test series win on Indian soil – and the first in 25 years since Hansie Cronje’s side achieved the feat.
With a commanding lead of 288 runs and all ten Indian second-innings wickets still intact at stumps, the Proteas are firm favourites to complete a memorable 2-0 sweep as early as day four.