India had upper hand from Day 1: S. Africa coach

Johannesburg, Jan 26 : South Africa head coach Ottis Gibson on Friday said India had the upper hand from the first day in the third Test and they have utilised the conditions here more.

South Africa, who ended the third day scoring 17 for one, need 224 runs to accomplish a Test series whitewash over India.

However, the Proteas coach also said he did not expect the pitch to behave the way it did after a back of length delivery from Jasprit Bumrah hit Deal Elgar on his helmet.

“India over the course of the three days have utilized the conditions a lot more. We’ve bowled wider than we should have. They’ve had the upper hand since the first day,” the South Africa coach said.

“I’ve played here before on a wicket that looked similar with the grass on. I think both teams thought it was a good pitch. It was cut down to 5mm. I don’t think we expected it to behave in the way it did,” Gibson added.

IANS