IND vs SA 2025-26, 2nd Test, Day 3, Highlights: Jansen’s superb 6-48 leaves India staring at another home series defeat.
Brief Scores: SA 489 (Senuran Muthusamy 109, Marco Jansen 93, Kuldeep Yadav 4/115) & 26/0 (Ryan Rickelton 13*) lead IND 201 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 58, Marco Jansen 6/48, Simon Harmer 3/64) by 314 runs at stumps on Day 3.
With South Africa posting 489 runs in the first innings of the second Test in Guwahati, India have a massive mountain to breach. It would be on the home side to apply the right methods to carry the game forward. The Proteas would anyway be happy with a drawn result, having already been ahead by 1-0 in the two-match series.
On the third day, the surface still looked good to bat on under the overcast morning. The pitch slowed down with some wear and tear, but it wasn’t serious enough to create pressure on the batters. If the batters could spend a few balls in the middle, it wouldn’t be a challenge to build a massive innings.
Talking point: India’s poor batting display continues
It was a bizarre second half of the morning session on the third day in terms of India’s batting. From 95/1, they collapsed to 122/7 in around 12 overs. Their batters played some embarrassing and needless shots, which brought the Proteas massively back into the clash.
Read More: IND vs SA 2025-26, 2nd Test, Day 2: Muthusamy 109, Jansen 93 propels SA to 489; India 9-0 at stumps
India’s wheels come off after collapsing to 102/4; hosts trail by 387 runs at tea
Both overnight India openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul began with a killer instinct against both Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder. Jaiswal collected two boundaries against Jansen before sweeping Keshav Maharaj over deep backward square leg for a well-executed boundary. Meanwhile, Rahul solidified from the other end as they put up a 65-run opening stand.
Keshav Maharaj took India’s first wicket as Rahul ended up getting an outside edge into the hands of the slip region. Jaiswal, on the other hand, notched up his 13th Test half-century. Just when he looked settled, Simon Harmer bagged the ‘big fish.’ The ball stopped on the surface, and Jaiswal ended up getting an outside edge into the hands of the short third man.
Sai Sudharsan and Dhruv Jurel’s two needless shots just 15 minutes before the tea break saw India falling apart. They ended with 102/4 in the first session, trailing by 387 runs.
Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav’s 52*-run stand recovers India to 174/7; trail by 315 runs
The second session began on a disappointing note for India, as Rishabh Pant charged down the track in an attempt to loft Jansen over the ropes, only to feather an edge through to the wicketkeeper. Jansen bounced out both Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ravindra Jadeja in a quick session as the Blue Brigade lost six wickets for 27 runs in around 11 overs.
Just when things went downhill for the home side, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav showed patience in the middle. The southpaw duo was confident in their defence and was hardly in two minds about playing any shot. Their 52-run stand for the eighth wicket pushed India to 174/7 at lunch, reducing the deficit to 315 runs.
Read More: IND vs SA 2025-26, 2nd Test, Day 1: Honours shared with India slightly ahead; SA 247-6 at stumps
Marco Jansen’s 6/48 bundle out India for 201; SA stretch lead to 314 runs
Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav stretched the partnership to 72 runs before Harmer found the outside edge off Sundar on 48 runs. Jansen continued to create doubt among the India batters with short balls. Kuldeep couldn’t handle the short ball and gave Aiden Markram an easy catch. Marco Jansen’s 6/48 blew away the hosts for 201 as the Proteas earned a massive 293-run lead.
Markram got a life on the fifth delivery of the innings as Rahul dropped a tough chance at the slip region in South Africa’s second innings. But that was the only chance for the home side to make inroads. Both openers saw off the tricky period and increased the lead to 314 runs.
What to expect on Day 4?
With the lead already crossing the 300-run mark, the brightest and most probable result from here on in is South Africa’s victory. India need a magical performance from hereon to even draw the contest, let alone earning a victory.
Read More: Does Washington Sundar justify his selection as India’s premier off-spinner?
Statistical highlights from IND vs SA, 1st Test, Day 3, Guwahati
- Yashasvi Jaiswal now has a fifty-plus score against each opposition he has encountered so far in his Test career.
- Yashasvi Jaiswal now has 44 sixes as an opener in Tests. He is third on the list of most sixes as an India opener in Tests; Virender Sehwag leads the list with 88 sixes, with Rohit Sharma is at no. 2 with 56 maximums.
- KL Rahul has been dismissed four times against left-arm spinners in six Test innings in 2025.
- Since the start of WTC in 2019, India’s number three averages 21.86 in the first innings of Tests across 37 innings. It’s the second-worst in the world, only ahead of West Indies’ 10.45.
- Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav have faced the most deliveries (208) for the eighth-wicket stand for India against South Africa in Tests.
- Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar record India’s third-highest eighth-wicket Test stand (72) against South Africa at home.
- Kuldeep Yadav faced the second most deliveries (134) for an India no. 9 against South Africa at home. Ravichandran Ashwin tops the chart with his innings of 56(140) in Delhi in 2015.
- Marco Jansen becomes only the second South Africa Test player after Nicky Boje to score 50+ runs and collected five or more wickets in an innings in India.
- Simon Harmer becomes South Africa’s joint second leading wicket-taker (21) alongside Morne Morkel, in Tests in India.
- Aiden Markram recorded the joint-most catches (05) as a non-wicket-keeper in a Test innings.
Top Twitter/X Reactions from IND vs SA 2025, 2nd Test, Guwahati
Narrowly missed a century, but this has been a tour de force performance by Marco Jansen, adding 5 wickets on this pitch to go with his 93
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) November 24, 2025
Marco Jansen’s spell is One of the finest fast bowling spells you will see on the Indian pitches.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) November 24, 2025
If the Indian batting had been governed by the stock exchange, the circuit breaker would have been invoked by now.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 24, 2025
Once bitten, twice shy? Similar patterns unfolding like the series in NZ. Back then the public laid the blame unfairly on Virat and Rohit, forgetting that the rest of the batters need to step up when needed too. With that cushion gone, the younger crop faces tougher times.…
— Priyank Panchal (@PKpanchal09) November 24, 2025
Terrific from Marco Jansen.🔥🔥
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) November 24, 2025
He is a serious talent, long levers giving him an amazing bat swing and getting better by the day with the ball.#indvsa pic.twitter.com/pevmoZ7Bk2
Read More: IND vs SA 2025-26, 1st Test: Spin it to ‘bin’ it – India lose yet another home Test on a turner
