It takes something special to take focus away from a historic eight-wicket haul by one of India’s premier spinners. But Sune Luus, once again, this time with Laura Wolvaardt, stitched a momentous 190-run stand for the second wicket after being asked to follow on, to keep South Africa alive in the one-off Test against India here on Sunday. Nearly 7000 people bore witness to a remarkable change in narrative on day three of the fixture where an Indian side, buoyed by its bowling returns in the first hour of play, never tasted joy again.
Sneh Rana was the pick of the bowlers for India on day two when Luus and Marizanne Kapp built the Protean resistance brick by brick. She was the hero on day three too, picking five of the six wickets to fall, registering her maiden Test fifer and tying with former Indian cricketer and current selector Neetu David and Australia’s Ash Gardner for most wickets in a single innings. In the first session on day three, Harmanpreet started with spin straightaway. Kapp was the first to blink in the 77th over as Sneh tore through her defence as she stepped back to block a ball coming into the off and middle stump. However, extra bounce on offer for Sneh saw the ball clip the top of off. The next five wickets fell in just 8.2 overs and for just 17 runs with South Africa still 337 runs short of India’s record first innings tally of 603. The Proteas stepped out to bat again and lost Anneke Bosch to Deepti Sharma in the eighth over. This was probably the most movement India saw from the wicket all day with the ball staying low and rapping her on the back pad.
Wolvaardt would have been relieved to have the steadfast support of Luus. The latter’s presence helped calm the skipper’s nerves and the pair slowly pieced South Africa’s response through the day. The visitor’s biggest gain which put India on the backfoot, was getting through the post lunch session till tea unscathed. This is the first time under Harmanpreet Kaur’s Test captaincy that an opposition went through a session without losing a wicket. Luus eventually completed a scintillating hundred in the 67th over, bringing it off a flick to midwicket for two runs. Luus’ composure gave way to an exaggerated celebration with her batting partner joining in with a congratulatory hug.
India was running out of weapons to throw at the Protean batters and Harmanpreet decided to bring herself on. Her call soon paid a rich dividend in the 74th over when Luus misread a back of the length ball moving outside off. Luus got on the backfoot to try and slice the ball but misjudged its height, watching it clip her off stump instead. Kapp and Wolvaardt saw out the rest of the day safely but the final session wasn’t without its fair share of heart-stopping moments. Kapp was put down twice, once on 10 and then on 11, both by Deepti. She put down a regulation catch off Sneh’s bowling, an edge at first slip that spilled out of her hands and then gave Kapp another lifeline by botching a return catch.
India finds itself in an unfamiliar position having never faced a resistance of this kind in the recent past at home. Its famed spin arsenal was barely able to scratch the Protean wall. Perhaps Harmanpreet could have allowed a few overs of seam-only bowling at the start of the second innings to allow the ball to wear out a little more. Instead, Rana bowled in tandem with Renuka with a ball that wasn’t giving her much to work with. It allowed South Africa the luxury of figuring out how the ball was moving and what the pitch was offering. Barring a few phases where the ball stayed low, there was not too much turn for the spinners to work with for most of the day. India’s basics were spot on but Wolvaardt finding another gear to grind out the opposition for a total of 308 min (approximately 5.1 hour) over 252 deliveries alongside Luus (234 minutes – a little over three hours) blunted India to submission.
South Africa still trails by 105 runs but the defiant 232/2 and the 85 overs spent flummoxing a high-flying Indian side will give the Proteas, who are playing for pride and a chance to save this match, plenty of confidence heading into the final day.
