Kuldeep Yadav called the pitch at the ACA stadium here a ‘road’ for how flat it was at the end of day two after South Africa amassed 489. On Monday (November 24, 2025), India’s batters, though, made the 22-yard strip look far more menacing than it actually was.

A 45-minute passage of play, either side of the tea interval on the morning of day three, pushed India to an abyss as South Africa tightened its vice-like grip on the second and final Test match.

For the second day in succession, it was Marco Jansen who starred for the visitors, scalping a brilliant six-wicket haul (19.5-5-48-6) to bowl out India for 201.

Despite a healthy 288-run lead, Temba Bavuma did not enforce the follow-on, and South Africa went to stumps on 26 for no loss in its second essay and is ahead by 314.

Jansen, whose quickfire 93 in the first innings swelled the Proteas’ total (489), made full use of his height to bounce out the Indian batters.

Resuming at nine for none, the home team needed to mix caution and aggression to secure a positive outcome in this fixture and level the series. Instead, India imploded, losing six wickets for 27 runs in 11.1 overs, going from 95 for 1 to 122 for 7.

The hosts, though, started positively with openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and K.L. Rahul adding 65 in quick time. Jaiswal wasted no time in attacking the spinners and brought out the sweep, collecting two boundaries and a six en route his half-century.

Just as India was motoring along at nearly four runs per over, Keshav Mahraj got one to spin and jump enough to hit the shoulder of Rahul’s bat, and Aiden Markram pouched an easy one at slip, the first of his five catches.

The South African tweakers were slower through the air and found more purchase than their Indian counterparts, in terms of turn and bounce to keep the batters guessing.

About 20 minutes before tea, Simon Harmer got into the action. Jaiswal, batting well on 58, was surprised by a delivery from the off-spinner that bounced extra and got a leading edge with Jansen completing a good catch diving forward.

Sai Sudharsan, back at no.3, failed to grab his chance, pulling a long-hop from Harmer to short-midwicket.

In the last over before the break, Dhurv Jurel inexplicably tried to pull Jansen from outside off-stump and hit it straight to mid-on.

Having lost three wickets in 20 balls, India needed to be a bit more watchful, but skipper Rishabh Pant had other ideas. He charged down to Jansen and nicked it behind, attempting a wild heave.

The left-arm pacer then removed Nitish Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja in successive overs, both caught in the cordon fending against well-directed short-pitch deliveries.

By the time he finished his second spell (8-1-18-4), India were in dire straits. From there, Washington Sundar (48) and Kuldeep Yadav forged a 72-run alliance for the eighth wicket. Washington, pushed down to number eight, yet again gave a good account of his strong technique, handling the spinners easily using his long reach. Kuldeep too looked assured, and the duo showed great application in stitching a vital partnership.

In the final session, Jansen fittingly closed out the innings after taking the second new ball and completed his fourth five-for.

South Africa will be without Kagiso Rabada for the second and final test against India in Guwahati after the fast bowler failed to recover from a rib injury.

Rabada missed South Africa’s 30-run victory in the first test at Eden Gardens after sustaining a rib bone stress injury in training ahead of the game and will not be ready for the start of the second test on Saturday (November 22, 2025).

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South Africa had called up seamer Lungi Ngidi earlier this week in anticipation of Rabada’s absence and he will be in contention to play.

“We will finalise the starting 11 tomorrow when we have had a look at the wicket, but it looks a little bit fresher than Kolkata with a bit more grass on the wicket, so that suggests it will play a bit better,” captain Temba Bavuma told reporters on Friday (November 21).

“It will be more of a traditional sub-continent wicket, good for batting in the first few days and then the spinners will come into it,” he added.

“The first innings becomes crucial from a batting point of view to really set the game up. You always want to win the toss; you know the advantage of batting on day one and two.”

Bavuma said there would be no thoughts of playing for a draw to claim the series win.

“Any test you play you want to win, and it is no different here. We want to play from the front and not try protecting the lead we have,” he said.

Rabada will also miss the three one-day internationals and five Twenty20 matches against India that follow the test series as he begins a four-week rehabilitation programme.

India announced on Friday (November 21) that they will be without captain Shubman Gill for the second test.