At stumps, the SA side were on 93/7, holding a 63-run lead in their second innings with just three wickets in hand.
Continuing their struggle with the bat in a low-scoring match, South Africa were desperately trying to hold themselves together at the close of play on day two of the first Test against India in Kolkata on Saturday.
When stumps were drawn, the SA team had stumbled to 93/7 in their second innings following another collapse.
They held a 63-run lead with just three wickets in hand. Captain Temba Bavuma was on 29 not out and all-rounder Corbin Bosch was unbeaten on one.
Veteran spinner Ravindra Jadeja was the most destructive of India’s bowlers, taking 4/29 to keep the Proteas on the back foot.
India first innings
Earlier, after resuming their first innings at 37/1, trailing the tourists by 122, India were well restricted by the Proteas attack.
The hosts were bowled out for 189 runs shortly after the drinks break in the second session, with opening batter KL Rahul top-scoring after making a 39-run contribution overnight.
Having been put on the back foot the day before, the South Africans managed to fight their way back into the game, led by spinner Simon Harmer who took 4/30 to keep India under pressure.
Harmer was well backed by seamer Marco Jansen, who returned 3/35.
Despite the efforts of their bowlers, however, the SA batters continued to struggle after they were sent back in, and the tourists were left facing an uphill battle.
Still confident of winning
He admitted South Africa were in a bind, but Harmer said they still believed they could emerge triumphant.
“We need to obviously try to get as many runs as we can and get past 100. If we can get to 150, that would be incredible,” said Harmer, one of the Proteas tailenders who were still set to bat on day three.
“But it’s obviously quite difficult at the moment to score runs. The Indian boys have bowled well, so we’ve got our work cut out for us tomorrow, but I think Temba (Bavuma) showed us today with his application and a very good tempo to his innings, and he’s probably given us a blueprint of how we need to go about our business.”
