SA vs IND, 1st Test, Day 1, Review: Honours shared on a wicket-filled day in Cape Town

The highly anticipated three-match Test series between India and South Africa got underway at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday. The first day of the series revealed a lot about the character of both the sides. The visitors dropped Ajinkya Rahane based on current form for Rohit Sharma and also handed over a surprise debut to Jasprit Bumrah. Even the home side went in with the deadly quartet of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel to attack the Indian batting line-up.

Virat Kohli lost the toss and was happy to bowl first on a pitch which had a lot of seam movement due to the grass cover on it. The home team was caught off-guard when the action started to unfold in the middle as Bhuvneshwar Kumar snaffled the prized wicket of Dean Elgar for a duck. He continued to wreak havoc with his ability to swing the bowl and pinned the other opener Aiden Markram in front. However, Indians were overjoyed to see the back of Hashim Amla who wafted harmlessly at a wide delivery only to edge it to the keeper.

De Villiers and Du Plessis resurrect

South Africa, after choosing to bat first, were reduced to 12-3 in the first half-hour of the game. But the duo of AB de Villiers and the skipper Faf du Plessis calmed the nerves early on as the ball kept on moving. The former counter-attacked much to the surprise of the visitors and slammed 17 runs off the most successful bowler soon. He was up and running as his partner struggled early on. The other bowlers failed to backup Bhuvi as they leaked runs consistently. In the process, de Villiers also notched up his 41st half-century in Test cricket.

They smashed as many as 18 boundaries in their partnership until lunch with a run-rate of over 4. The duo added 114 runs for the third wicket as de Villiers was castled by the debutant Bumrah on 65 which brought a huge sense of relief on the faces of the Indian players. Du Plessis also notched up his half-century soon after but edged a wide delivery off Hardik Pandya after surviving a close lbw review. Though the runs continued to flow afterwards as Vernon Philander and Quinton de Kock stitched 60 runs together in less than 10 overs.

But the star of the day Bhuvi came back stunningly to scalp the latter who was looking extremely dangerous after scoring 43 off just 40 deliveries. Then the moment came for Mohammad Shami as well when he bowled a beauty to disturb the timbers of Philander who was also looking to take the game away from them. India owned the post-lunch session but even South Africa scored 123 runs in 27 overs who kept on scoring boundaries. Kohli though wasn’t perturbed and kept attacking fields which rewarded for his team.

India cleaned up the tail as the home side was bundled out for 286 with around 40 minutes to go for stumps. It was R Ashwin who ended the proceedings as he scalped the last couple of wickets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the bowlers undoubtedly for India.

India tottering in reply

The stern test was awaiting India’s batsmen as the deadliest pace attack of South Africa was licking their lips on a lively pitch. The opening duo of Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan walked out to face them as the former was the first to go off Vernon Philander. Then the comeback man Dale Steyn roared his way back into the Test cricket after fittingly taking the catch off his own bowling to send Dhawan packing. Morne Morkel scalped a big fish soon after as the skipper Virat Kohli wafted at the harmless delivery.

Cheteshwar Pujara was the only man who looked unflustered as India finished on 28/3. They need a huge partnership now to get even close to the total of South Africa. The first session on the second morning will once again be fascinating as the hosts will be looking to take the lead by bowling their opposition out as early as possible.

Brief Scores

South Africa – 286 (de Villiers 65, du Plessis 62; B Kumar 4/68, R Ashwin 2/21)

India – 28/3 (S Dhawan 16; M Morkel 1/0, D Steyn 1/13, V Philander 1/13)