It all went wrong for India from the very start as Kagiso Rabada once again got the better of skipper Rohit Sharma (0), cleaning him up with a jaffa that came in and moved away at the last moment. Yashasvi Jaiswal (5) was then bounced out by Nandre Burger (4/33) as he was caught off guard by a rising delivery. Shubman Gill eased his way to 26 before being bowled comprehensively by Marco Jansen (3/36).
The carnage continued as Shreyas Iyer (6) dragged a delivery from Jansen back onto his stumps. There was no resistance from KL Rahul this time. He was out for 4, nicking an inviting delivery outside off stump from Burger. The left-arm pacer was on a hat-trick as Ravichandran Ashwin (0) stabbed the next delivery straight to gully.
Virat Kohli (76 off 82) held one end up, while also scoring runs fluently. He struck 12 fours and a six in his defiant knock. However, South African bowlers kept chipping away at the other end. Shardul Thakur (2) and Mohammed Siraj (4) fell to Rabada and Burger respectively, while Jasprit Bumrah (0) was forced to sacrifice his wicket while trying to give the strike back to Kohli. The latter was the last man out, superbly caught by Rabada, who sprinted to his left from long-on after the Indian batter miscued a big hit from Jansen.
Earlier, Dean Elgar (185 off 287) and Jansen (84 not out off 147) featured in a 111-run stand for the sixth wicket to put South Africa firmly in control of the Centurion Test. The retiring Elgar, who hit 28 fours in his resolute knock, was looking good for 200 when he gloved a short ball down leg from Thakur. Jansen continued the fight for the hosts, slamming 11 fours and a six. Pacer Bumrah, however, claimed two quick wickets at the end, while injured skipper Temba Bavuma did not bat as Jansen was stranded 16 short of a hundred.
--By A Cricket Correspondent
