SA vs IND first Test | South Africa in driver’s seat; Elgar, Jansen take hosts to comfortable position

India tour of South Africa: South Africa vs India first Test in Centurion | Elgar and Jansen put South Africa in comfortable position

Veteran Dean Elgar missed out on a well-deserved maiden double hundred but inflicted enough damage on India in company of young Marco Jansen to potentially bat the visitors out of the opening Test as South Africa reached 392 for 7 at lunch on the third day.

Elgar (185 off 287 balls), whose previous highest Test score is 199, was inching towards his maiden double hundred before a faint tickle to leg-side bouncer from Shardul Thakur brought about his end.

But, that didn’t deter the lanky Jansen (72 batting, 119 balls), not exactly famous for his batting prowess, to easily negotiate a deflated Indian attack that looked out of sorts as well bereft of ideas.

The Elgar-Jansen pair added 111 runs for the sixth wicket. With the lead already swelling to 147 runs, it will be a Herculean task for the Indian batters to save the game.

The sun is beating down, odd balls are keeping low and survival isn’t an option against a quality Proteas attack.

The Indian bowlers were even more disappointing on the third morning with Shardul Thakur (1/101 in 19 overs) and Prasidh Krishna (1/92 in 19 overs) sprayed all over the place, only to be mercilessly punished by the former Proteas skipper Elgar and the lanky left-arm seamer Jansen.

The pair drove, pulled, cut at their own will and neither the old ball nor the semi-new ball could bring about any change in fortune for the visiting team bowlers.