The early exchanges on Day 4 in Guwahati involved a lot of chatter from Rishabh Pant behind the stumps. The odds were monumentally stacked against his side as South Africa started with a lead of 314, but India had to try. To turn and mend this game in shapes it hasn't seen over the course of three previous days where the visitors comfortably bossed every session played. 'Yeh achha hai, yeh achha hai'Pant chirped, egging Washington Sundar to maintain the line and speeds he'd chosen to take up in that first hour that asked questions of the South African openers.

From the start of this series to the fourth morning in Guwahati, South Africa spinners had looked better equipped for the contrasting conditions on offer at both venues. Their finger spinners bowled with a lower average speed (83.5kmph to India's 90.5) and got significantly more average turn (3.9 degrees to 2.7). The fourth morning was Washington and Ravindra Jadeja's chance to rework those numbers as Pant trusted the duo to do India's bidding for long stretches of play. It was perhaps, in line with India's early assessment of the conditions. At the end of Day 1, where the game was split evenly between the two sides, Kuldeep Yadav had been India's best bowler. The team's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate, though, expected the finger spinners to take centre stage as the game went on.

So on came Washington on the fourth morning, bowling outside the off-stump to bring both the edges into play, and delivering a lot slower than he did in the previous innings. Jadeja bowled from the other end, where Pant's interests were piqued. 'Bounce ho raha hai acha', he pointed out, for his left-arm spinner to take advantage of. Jadeja dismissed Ryan Rickelton in the first hour and then bowled a sharp turner to Aiden Markram, drawing him forward and beating the outside edge of his bat to knock back the off-stump after the drinks break. Washington too found reward for his persistence, with a ball that turned 9.1 degrees which Temba Bavuma flicked to Nitish Reddy at leg slip.

India had three morning session wickets to take back at Tea, but a zoomed out view offered the bigger, truer picture of the game. South Africa's lead was already close to 400, and India were still being pushed to the brink. The anticipated declaration didn't come for another 38.3 overs, where South Africa managed to add 154 more to the target.

The Guwahati pitch had a part to play in South Africa's long game here. Their head coach Shukri Conrad would later reveal the multi-fold reasons for his team batting on. South Africa wanted to tire out India on the field, get them to bat towards the end when shadows fall on the pitch and make it uncomfortable while also maximising the use of the new ball across two tricky phases - when the lights are on at the end of Day 4 and at the start of Day 5.

India bowlers would've expected a little more purchase as play went on, but got a completely baked out surface instead where neither turn nor bounce challenged the batters. It almost served as an overcompensation for early onset of deterioration in Eden Gardens.

The post-Tea session then, was an extension of the theme that this Test fit into on Day 2, where India were being played at their own game by an opposition that had suffered through it for three Tests in 2019. As Tony de Zorzi and Tristan Stubbs batted time,

Jasprit Bumrah had bowled just three overs in the morning session and wasn't turned to again even as Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs and Wiaan Mulder piled on the misery. It told you all you needed to know about India's state on a day when the sand seemed to trickle down in slo-mo through the hourglass. They meandered away while South Africa got busy steering the Test in a direction where a drawn series was out of question.

The last and only time a team scored over 400 runs on Day 5 of a Test match was at Headingley in 1948. India need to outscore that by 122 to rewrite record books. But that is not on the cards, not even as an optimistic expectation for India. South Africa's unflinching push has perhaps had the desired effect on the Indian camp too, as a defeated Jadeja went on to admit: a draw here would be as good as a win.