New Delhi:
Dean Elgar and Quinton de Kock had helped South Africa recover from a precarious position and were putting pressure on India. De Kock was nearing a century while Elgar was set to break some records when he reached 160. However, Ravindra Jadeja had other ideas. The left-arm spinner floated a flighted delivery outside off that landed on the rough, Elgar attempted the slog sweep but because the ball bounced unevenly after landing on the rough patch, the batsman top-edged the shot. Cheteshwar Pujara ran in from deep midwicket and took the catch to break the 164-run stand and give India hope.
The wicket of Elgar was Jadeja's 200th in Tests and he took it in his 44th Test match. He is the second quickest Indian to get to the landmark behind Ravichadran Ashwin, who took 36 Tests to get to the landmark. Yasir Shah of Pakistan holds the record for the fastest to 200 wickets, having achieved the feat in his 33rd Test during the game against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in 2014.
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However, among left-arm bowlers, Jadeja is the quickest to reach the landmark. Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Rangana Herath took 47 Tests to reach 200 wickets while Mitchell Johnson and Wasim Akram took 49 and 50 Tests respectively to get to double figures. Among Indians, Jadeja broke the mark set by Bishan Singh Bedi, who took 51 Tests to reach 200 wickets.
When Jadeja got the wicket of Dane Piedt on the first day, that was his 199th wicket and the scalp of Elgar got him into the list of bowlers who have taken 200 wickets. It has been a Test of records for the Indian and South African players. Mayank Agarwal notched up his first double century while Rohit Sharma notched up his maiden century as an opener. The 317-run stand between Agarwal and Rohit was the best stand in Tests between India and South Africa.
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This was also one of the rare instances when three or more players have scored 150+ in the same match. It was the fourth instance in Test cricket while it was the first time that such a feat had taken place in India. Thanks to Elgar's 160 and Quinton de Kock's ton, the match is evenly poised and both teams will have to avoid a slip-up if they have to register a win in Vizag.
