Nagpur: Dale Steyn ripped through the Indian batting order, returning with career-best figures of 7 for 51 and leaving India staring at a huge defeat at the end of Day 3 of the first test against South Africa.

The 26-year-old Steyn finished with astounding figures of 16.4-6-51-7 as India were bowled out for 233 in their first innings despite a fighting century by Virender Sehwag, who made 109. India, trailing by a mammoth 325 runs in the first innings, then had to face the embarrassment of being asked to follow-on and were struggling at 66 for 2 in the second innings at close of play, with both openers back in the pavilion. Murali Vijay (27) and Sachin Tendulkar (15) were at the crease at stumps, with India still needing 259 runs to make the visitors bat again.

In a dramatic collapse, the hosts lost as many as six wickets for just 12 runs immediately after the tea break. The Indians were moving along comfortably with the score reading 221 for four at the tea interval but the complexion of the game changed in a matter of few minutes, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni (6) and debutant S Badrinath (56) departing in quick succession which triggered a collapse with none of the lower-order batsmen having any answer to the pace of Dale Steyn.

India, resuming at 25 for no loss on Day 3, lost Gautam Gambhir (12), Murali Vijay (4) and Sachin Tendulkar (7) in the pre-lunch session but Sehwag and Badrinath steadied the ship, adding 136 runs for the fourth wicket and lifting India from a precarious 56 for three to 192 for four.

Sehwag cracked a fluent 109 off 139 balls to lead the home team’s fightback along with Badrinath, who scored a half-century in his maiden test innings, before the partnership was broken when Sehwag slashed at a wide Wayne Parnell delivery to give a straight-forward catch to JP Duminy in the deep.

Sehwag’s dismissal opened up the floodgates, with Steyn virtually ripping through the lower order in a dramatic spell of seam bowling. This was Steyn’s 13^th five-for in test cricket.

India didn’t have any luck in the second innings too, with Gambhir (1) and Sehwag (16) returning to the dressing room inside five overs. Morne Morkel brought one back from outside the off-stump and Gambhir shouldered arms just to watch ball rattle his stumps.

In the next over, Sehwag tried to slash a Steyn delivery but managed just an edge which flew into Graeme Smith’s palm in the first slip as India slumped to 24 for two.

Now, with two full days left, the Indians will have to play out of their skins to even take the game to the final day especially with the middle-order being exposed in the absence of experienced players like Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh.

Match Summary:

Stumps Day 3, India 233 (Sehwag 109, Badrinath 56, Steyn 7-51) and (f/o) 62 for 2 (Vijay 27*) trail South Africa 558 for 6 dec (Amla 253*, Kallis 173, Khan 3-96) by 259 runs

Tagged with: Dale Steyn, India, Morne Morkel, Murali Vijay, Nagpur, Sachin Tendulkar, South Africa, Virender Sehwag

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