South Africa will enter the final day of the Guwahati Test firmly in control after stretching their lead to 548 and leaving India with a mountain to climb. The visitors batted deep into the third session on day four before finally declaring, a move coach Shukri Conrad later described as both tactical and psychological as his side pushed for a rare series sweep in India.
“We obviously looked at how best we were going to use the new ball, because in the morning we still wanted a newish, hardish ball. What we felt is that when the shadows come across the wicket in the evening, there's something in it for the quick bowlers, so we didn't want to declare too early and not be able to use that,” Conrad said in the press conference.“And then, obviously, we wanted the Indians to spend as much time on their feet out in the field, we wanted them to really grovel, to steal a phrase, bat them completely out the game, and then say to them 'Come and survive on the last day and an hour this evening.' So, so far so good, but we also know that they're not just going to roll over, we're going to have to be at our very best in the morning,” he added.
South Africa’s approach reflects how much this tour means to them. They have not won a Test series in India since 2000 and broke a long winless drought in the format only last week in Kolkata. Having dominated every phase in Guwahati, recovering from 247 for 6 to post 489, then dismissing India for 201, the visitors refused to loosen their grip by enforcing the follow-on. Instead, they forced India to field for a draining 229.4 overs before setting up their final-day push.
We are going to go all out for the win: Conrad
India closed at 27 for 2, still far behind, with 90 scheduled overs on day five, though the match has already lost time to poor light. Conrad admitted the pitch had held up better than expected but believes the attack has the tools to finish the job.
“I don't think there's a right and a wrong in anything. We wanted India to come out again after lunch and spend time on their feet. We saw the effects of batting for two full days in the first innings and what sort of effect it had on them. And it was never going to be easy for the opening batters to come this evening, with the new ball and shadows across the wicket. We felt we could have struck there. If tomorrow evening comes and we have them eight down and people say, 'Well, see you told you so'… we've got to base it on our sound judgement and if that doesn't work out, it doesn't. I don't think there's a right and wrong in any of this but obviously, 2-0 is a lot better than 1-0. I'd like to think that the series is secured and we're going to go all out for the win,” Conrad said.
With Marco Jansen’s bounce, Simon Harmer’s consistency, and a renewed faith in spin depth, South Africa head into the final morning sensing a rare opportunity to complete a historic clean sweep on Indian soil