After being reduced to 39-3 at stumps on Day 2, Dean Elgar and Quinton de Kock led South Africa’s recovery as the duo stitched together a crucial 164-run stand for the sixth wicket. Their partnership took South Africa across the follow-on and ensured that the visitors cross the 400-run mark. Their stand was finally broken when Dean Elgar was dismissed by Jadeja to leave visitors at 342-6. South Africa were eventually dismissed for 431 early on Day 4, thus giving the hosts a first-innings lead of 71 runs.

Ind vs SA Freedom Trophy 2019

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Ind vs SA: Quinton de Kock’s innings

After Dean Elgar’s dismissal, Quinton de Kock continued to bat for another 10 overs as he brought up his fifth Test century. He formed a 28-run partnership with Senuran Muthusamy for the seventh wicket. The wicket-keeper/batsman was finally castled by an Ashwin-special after scoring 111 off 163 balls. His innings included 16 fours and two sixes and it came at a healthy strike-rate of 68.09.

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Ind vs SA: R Ashwin traps Quinton de Kock with variations

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Ravichandran Ashwin was all set to bowl the 110th over of the visitors' innings. The right-arm spinner started out with a sharp turn that left the outside edge of the batsman. His second ball of the over turned a bit less but was more-or-less the action-replay of the previous delivery. His third ball, however, went straight through de Kock’s defence and onto the stumps. Ashwin had him measured up with his three-ball trick that included sharp variations off the pitch. The dismissal finally brought an end to de Kock’s 163-ball stay at the crease. He also became the fourth victim in Ashwin’s 7-wicket haul. Into Day 4, India started their second innings with a handy lead of 71.

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