South Africa vs India 1st Test, Day 1 - 5 Talking Points

All the hype that came in before the commencement of this series lived up to the expectation as both India and South Africa fought hard on day 1. From Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s outstanding spell to AB de Villiers’ masterclass, it was an eventful day would be an understatement. The Indian skipper Virat Kohli would be delighted that his bowlers picked up 10 wickets inside one day. But they lost three wickets before stumps, putting them on the backfoot.

1. Bhuvi runs through the top order

Batting first, the South African top order got bamboozled with a breathtaking spell from Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The fast bowler from Uttar Pradesh picked up a wicket in the very first over of the game. He then followed it up with two big wickets of Hashim Amla and Aiden Markram in his next two overs.

The Proteas were caught in the Indian stranglehold. They were reduced to 12/3 even before the crowd could settle in.

2. AB gets into the act

But AB de Villiers had other ideas in mind to rescue his side. He played some excellent shots and counter-attacked the bowlers. He reaped 17 runs off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s over and that eased the pressure a bit for the hosts.

The former Proteas skipper banged the Indian bowlers to all parts with support coming from the current skipper Faf du Plessis. The scoring rate escalated past the 4 mark and De Villiers was clearly in a mood to annihilate the bowlers. He got to his fifty in no time and the partnership between these two players crossed the hundred mark.

3. ABD and Faf fall in quick succession

India needed some inspiration at this point in time and clearly, the Proteas were running away. But completely against the run of play, Jasprit Bumrah sent De Villiers’ stumps for a drive along the ground. It was a beautiful in-swinging delivery from the debutant and he was delighted to get the great man as his first Test wicket. Almost immediately, Hardik Pandya picked up Du Plessis’ wicket.

One place India would feel they got it all wrong was during the middle phase of the day. The Proteas middle-order batsmen didn’t get big scores, but everyone got good starts. They managed to stitch crucial stands and this helped the hosts to get a much decent total than what they had anticipated.

4. The tail wagged

Quinton de Kock and Vernon Philander played some positive cricket and added 60 runs for the 6th wicket. De Kock fell just short of a half-century, but Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada played few blazing shots towards the end to propel South Africa to 286 out nowhere. Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned with the best figures for India, picking up 4 wickets and giving away 87 runs.

5. Contrasting end to the day for India

If India had managed to lose a maximum of one wicket by the end of the day’s play, it would’ve been their day. But the hosts bowling contingent led by the returning warrior Dale Steyn ripped the Indian top order apart with sheer class. It all began with Murali Vijay chasing a wide delivery and giving a straight-forward catch to gully off Vernon Philander.

Next up was Dhawan, who fell prey to some outstanding consistency from the King, Dale Steyn. He is now three wickets short of equalling Shaun Pollock as the highest wicket-taker in their country’s history. But the biggest blow of the day was provided by Morne Morkel, who sent skipper Kohli back off the first ball he bowled.

India finished day 1 at 28/3, with Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara in the crease. The second day will only get trickier and they need a good partnership to avoid conceding a huge first-innings lead.