3rd Test Day 1: India reach 224/3 before bad light forces early stumps

India won the toss and opted to bat first in the inconsequential third and final Test of the three-match series against South Africa at JSCA International Stadium Complex on Saturday.

After three early blows, opener Rohit Sharma smashed an unbeaten 117-run knock besides sharing a huge 185-run stand with Ajinkya Rahane (83) for the fourth wicket to guide India to 224/3 in the first innings before bad light forces early stumps on the first day of the final Test against South Africa at JSCA International Stadium Complex on Saturday. 

Here are the live updates:

# Stumps! 

# Bad light interrupts play! India 224/3  (58 overs)

# Seven runs off the first four overs after tea. Rohit Sharma (111) and Ajinkya Rahane (78) continue to stand strong at the crease. The South African bowlers are looking to break this partnership in order to avoid India post a mammoth first-innings total. India 213/3 (56 overs)

# 16 runs off the last five overs. Rahane (70) thumped the fourth delivery of the 47th over towards long-off for six runs. India have also reached the 200-run mark. India 200/3 (50 overs)

# CENTURY!! Rohit Sharma has completed his third Test century as an opener off 130 balls. The Indian opener reached the mark with a maximum on the fourth delivery of the 45th over. India 184/3 (45 overs)

# FIFTY!! Ajinkya Rahane has brought up his 21st Test fifty of 69 deliveries. He reached the mark by whipping the third delivery of the 39th over down to long-on for a single. India 162/3 (41 overs)

# Rohit Sharma (67) and Ajinkya Rahane (49) have brought up a century partnership for the fourth wicket. The duo reach the mark when Sharma guided the fourth delivery of the 37th over past cover for a single. India 139/3 (37 overs)

# India have managed to add just nine runs in the last five overs. Rohit Sharma is comfortably batting at 58, while Rahane (47) is approaching his half-century. South Africa, on the other hand, are looking to break this stand. India 128/3 (35 overs)

# FIFTY!! Sharma (52) has brought up a half-century mark off just 86 balls. The Indian opener drove the third delivery of the 30th over past the bower to long off to reach the landmark. India 115/3 (30 overs)

# Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma continue to stand strong at the crease at their respective scores of 40 and 48. The duo has also guided India past 100-run mark after three early blows. The Indian opener edged the first delivery of the 29th over between second slip and gully for four runs and to guide the hosts past the 100-run mark. India 111/3 (29 overs)

# 18 runs off the first two overs after Lunch, including four boundaries. Rahane (42) and Rohit (25) have brought up a half-century partnership for the fourth wicket. The duo reach the mark by hitting the fifth delivery of the 25th over between gully and to the right of second slip for four runs. Meanwhile, the Indian opener is also approaching a fifty. India 89/3 (25 overs)

# Lunch!

# 12 runs off the last four overs. Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane are currently batting at their respective scores of 23 and six and looking to steady India's ship after losing three quick wickets. India have crossed the half-century mark. India 51/3 (20 overs)

# Ajinkya Rahane is the new batsman in!

# WICKET!! Virat Kohli is caught leg before wicket on the third delivery of the 16th over by Anrich Nortje. It was the South African batsman's first Test wicket. India 43/3 (16 overs)

# 13 runs off the last four overs. Kohli (8) gets off the mark by whipping the second delivery of 12th over along to fine leg for a boundary before he flicked the fifth delivery away towards fine leg. India 29/2 (13 overs)

# Indian skipper Virat Kohli is the new batsman in!

# WICKET! Rabada strikes again. Cheteshwar Pujara (0) is caught leg before wicket on the third delivery of the ninth over by the South Africa bowler. India 16/2 (9 overs)

# Cheteshwar Pujara is the new batsman in!

# WICKET!! Rabada gives breakthrough to South Africa as early as in the fourth over. Agarwal (10) is caught by Dean Elgar (10) at third slip on the last delivery of the fifth over. India 12/1 (5 overs)

# Lungi Ngidi to share the ball from the other end.

# Six runs off the first over. Agarwal (6) gets off the mark by playing the second delivery with the angle down towards long leg for two runs before he guides the fourth delivery to the left of point to notch up first boundary of the over. India 6/0 (1 over)

# Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal have walked down the field to begin India's first innings. Kagiso Rabada to open the attack for South Africa. 

# Shahbaz Nadeem is all set to make his Test debut for India, while Heinrich Klaasen and George Linde will make their debuts for South Africa. 

Big day for Shahbaz Nadeem as he is all set to make his Test debut #TeamIndia #INDvSA @Paytm pic.twitter.com/3hfYTaVyDL — BCCI (@BCCI) October 19, 2019

# Lineups:

India XI: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Wridhimman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shahbaz Nadeem, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami 

South Africa XI: Dean Elgar, Quinton de Kock, Zubayr Hamza, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Dean Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi

# India win toss, opt to bat first against South Africa!

TOSS | 3rd Test, ICC World Test Championship at Ranchi

The Captains are in the middle on an overcast morning in Ranchi. Faf has brought Temba to be his proxy Captain and call the toss.

Temba calls a tail.

India win the toss and chose to Bat#ProteaFire#INDvSA pic.twitter.com/WeLIYcSSRo — Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) October 19, 2019

# The toss is all set to take place in a few minutes!

Having already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the Test series against South  Africa, India will look to complete a whitewash of the three-match series against the Faf du Plessis-led side when they head into the third and final match at the JSCA Stadium on Saturday. 

Earlier, the Virat Kohli-led side clinched the Test series against South Africa with a game to spare when they registered a crushing win by an innings and 137 runs in the second Test at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. 

The hosts had also dominated South Africa in the all three aspects of the game in the opening Test as well, registering a comfortable 203-run win in Visakhapatnam. 

Heading into the final Test, Kohli's side will aim to clinch series whitewash and earn another 40 points in order to extend their lead in the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship. 

South Africa, on the other hand, will play for pride and look to end their tour to India on a winning note. 

The two squads are as follows:

India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (capt/wk), Rassie van der Dussen (vc), Temba Bavuma, Junior Dala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, George Linde.