India batted late into the final session on the fourth day of the first Test against South Africa before declaring their second innings at 323 for four in 67 overs. They gave themselves 45 minutes on day four and the whole of day five to bowl out the visiting team.
In the end, only 30 minutes of play was possible due to bad light after the Proteas openers came out to bat.
At the end of the day’s play, South Africa were 11 for one with Ravindra Jadeja trapping first-innings centurion Dean Elgar in front of the stumps. However, the decision came in India’s favor only when Jadeja forced captain Virat Kohli to go for a DRS as the umpire had initially ruled the batsman not out.
— Kumar Sourav (@AdamDhoni1) October 5, 2019
Aiden Markram (1) and Theunis de Bruyn (1) will resume the batting on Sunday with the visitors 384 runs behind.
Considering their spirited effort with the bat in the first innings, South Africa would be backing themselves to bat out the 90 odd overs on the final day.
Meanwhile, Day 4 once again belonged to Rohit, who played yet another sublime knock at a brisk pace after the hosts bowled out South Africa for 431, earning a 71-run lead in the first innings.
Brief Scores:
India 502/7 decl & 323/4 decl (Rohit Sharma 127, Cheteshwar Pujara 81, Keshav Maharaj 2/129)
South Africa 1st Innings 431 and (target 395) 11/1 (Ravindra Jadeja 1/3).
