Reality bites dazed South Africa

Regardless of the outcome, this Test was always going to present South Africa with a selection of what-ifs. What if South Africa had got to Delhi with something more than pride to play for? What if they had picked Dane Piedt earlier? But, after they were left deflated on another day, they had to face the one what-if they would have hoped to avoid: what if they were not good enough to compete in this contest at all?

After Hashim Amla dropped three catches in the slips, India pushed on and punished South Africa. They later struggled to deal with the quicks, an area where South Africa have been usually unflappable. At the end of the day, the only conclusion South Africa could reach was that they were not up to the standard. Their coach Russell Domingo seemed to be resigned to that reality though he was perplexed about the reasons behind it.

"It's not through lack of trying or lack of effort or lack of commitment. It just hasn't worked for us. Things just haven't gone well for us," Domingo said. "And you also need to make your own luck. Things have gone well for India and they have made their own luck."

It's true that more things have gone well for India than they have for South Africa but it is also true that South Africa have not justified anything going right for them. India have won every toss and made the right decision every time, which has allowed them to make better use of the conditions. That, however, had nothing to do with South Africa's fall this time. Confidence, or the lack of it, did.

South Africa let it slip midway through the first day, when they actually had some measure of control, having reduced India to 139 for 6. The visitors operated essentially with three bowlers - Morne Morkel, Kyle Abbott, and Dane Piedt - and they probably needed one more on the first day and perhaps two today, but they were hit by lack of resources.

Even as Morkel and Piedt were inconsistent today, Abbott was exceptional as he kept it tight and found movement. But Ajinkya Rahane and R Ashwin combined well to keep the scorecard ticking, leaving South Africa drained. With every run conceded, South Africa seemed to take a step closer to the Emirates flight that will depart from Delhi at 4am on Tuesday morning. Domingo, though hoped that thoughts of home did not overwhelm the job that had to be done here.

"It has been a long tour," Domingo admitted. "But the talk before the game was all very good. We spoke about how important every Test is, how we know we haven't played as well as we can so whether its subconscious that it's one foot on the plane I can't comment on."

Instead, he felt that Rahane and India's lower order ground the attack and drained everything South Africa had in their tank. "We've been outplayed over two days. One guy scored a great hundred and their No.9 (Ashwin) had a lucky escape and went one to score fifty and then we capitulated under some good bowling, " Domingo said. "Their batting was pretty average until Rahane's 100 today. One guy has gone on and played a really good innings."

But it was more than that. While Rahane was the only one to get to three figures, he was part of three fifty-plus partnerships, the seventh and eight wicket stands yielding 157 runs together. Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin proved as menacing with the bat as they have been with the ball. What that realisation sunk in, the real difference between South Africa and India was highlighted.

"They've managed to bat better at the back end of their innings than we have. Once we've been under pressure we've fallen away badly," Domingo said. "And the Indian bowlers have have continuously kept us under pressure. Every time it looked like getting better, someone got out or someone got a good ball. There were a few dismissals that could be deemed as soft, they were a few down to good bowling so it was a bit of both. They deserved a lot of credit."

Not only have South Africa's been bundled out because of technical deficiencies and temperamental uncertainties but also because India have been able to prey on those. Jadeja identified that Bavuma often hung back in the crease and nailed the batsman with a skiddy ball. Umesh Yadav, who knew that he was getting good movement, surprised JP Duminy from round the wicket with one that straightened. Virat Kohli was smart to cramp the out-of-form pair of Amla and Faf du Plessis with close-in fielders to force an error. Not even switching places - Amla came in at No.3 while du Plessis dropped to No.5 - could help South Africa turn things around.

A combination of these have skittled South Africa again. This time, they looked as mentally shot as they were physically, but Domingo managed some optimism.

With India set to hammer their home advantage, what were South Africa's chances? "We've got to keep believing," Domingo said. "You'd be foolish to put money on South Africa winning now but if we can do something special, bowl them out for 120, end up chasing 320...." If. What if.