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Cape Town - Dane Piedt made a compelling case for his return to Test cricket with his 11th five-wicket haul at first-class level to put South Africa 'A' in a potentially winning position on the third day of the first unofficial four-day Test match against India 'A' at Krishnagiri Stadium in Wayanad on Thursday.
Piedt (5/88 in 24 overs) and his fellow spinner, Keshav Maharaj (2/13 in 10.3 overs) bowled the home side out for 204 to give the South Africans a massive first innings advantage of 338.
They then declined to enforce the follow on, knocking up a quick 105/1 in 30 overs with Reeza Hendricks scoring his second half-century of the match, to set the Indians an improbable victory target of 444.
By the close they had reached 73/2 from 29 overs, still needing a further 371 for victory.
It has been a frustrating road back for Piedt who made his Test match debut against Zimbabwe just over a year ago, taking eight wickets in an excellent performance.
Since then he has been troubled by a shoulder injury that only came right after an extensive off-season period of rehabilitation and work under the direction of his franchise coach, Paul Adams.
He has yet to pick up a wicket in India's second innings, but at least had the satisfaction of running out India 'A' opening batsman, Jiwanjot Singh.
