Replying to South Africa's first innings total of 489, India struggled to 174 for seven at lunch as the home team suffered a batting collapse on the third day of the second Test, here Monday.
Except for Yashasvi Jaiswal (58 off 97 balls) and Washington Sunder (33 batting), no Indian batter could contribute substantially against the South African bowlers after starting the day at 9 for no loss.
Marco Jansen was the wrecker in chief with figures of 4/43 while Simon Harmer took two wickets for 61 runs. Four Indian wickets tumbled in the opening session, reaching 102 for 4 at tea. Three more Indian batters fell in the second session with Kuldeep Yadav (14 not out)firmly holding the fort at the other end.
But for the unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 52 runs off 141 balls between Washington and Kuldeep, India would have been in much deeper trouble.
KL Rahul (22), Sai Sudharsan (15), Dhruv Jurel (0), captain Rishabh Pant (7), Ravindra Jadeja (6) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (10) fell cheaply.
The home team trails by 315 runs and needs 116 runs to avoid follow on. Brief Scores: South Africa 1st Innings: 489 India 1st Innings: 174 for 7 in 67 overs (KL Rahul 22, Yashasvi Jaiswal 58, Washington Sunder 33 batting; Marco Jansen 4/43, Simon Harmer 2/61).
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