Day 4 of the second Test in Guwahati belonged once again to South Africa, who have almost sealed their first series win in India in 25 years. Starting the day with a strong lead, the visitors batted brilliantly for nearly five hours, extending their lead beyond 500. Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar removed Ryan Rickelton, Aiden Markram, and Temba Bavuma to raise some hopes of a turnaround.
However, Tristan Stubbs and Tony de Zorzi stitched a 101-run stand that stabilised South Africa's innings. De Zorzi fell for 49, but Stubbs carried on, finding strong support from Wiaan Mulder. Stubbs' dismissal for 94, six short of a maiden hundred, prompted Bavuma to declare at 260/5, setting India 549 to win.
Marco Jansen used short balls to dismiss Yashasvi Jaiswal early. Simon Harmer then delivered a beauty to bowl KL Rahul through the gate, continuing his excellent series. India finished at 27/2, still needing 522 runs and relying on a miracle to avoid a second home whitewash in 12 months.