Twitter Reactions: Gritty KL Rahul keeps India's ship afloat on Day 1 after Rabada wreaks havoc with fifer

Having won the toss and invited India to bat first, South African skipper Temba Bavuma couldn’t have asked for anything better from his bowlers as they left India reeling at 208/8 at Stumps on Day 1 of the first Test in Centurion. Kagiso Rabada starred with the ball for the hosts as he picked the 14^th five-wicket haul of his career to put his team on top on the opening Day of the two-match series.

After being put in to bat first, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal showed discipline in the first four overs and left the ball outside the off stump. However, captain Sharma (5 off 14) ended up pulling a short delivery straight to fine leg to debutant Nandre Burger in the fifth over as India lost their first wicket.

After taking the catch, Burger struck with the ball as well, as he managed to find the outside edge of Jaiswal’s bat and gave India their second blow. Shubman Gill walked in to bat at number three with expectations of taking the team out of misery, however, he had to return after scoring just two runs and getting strangled down the leg side against Kagiso Rabada.

With India reeling on 24/3, Virat Kohli (38 off 64) and Shreyas Iyer (31 off 50) added 67 runs for the fourth wicket and took India to lunch unscathed. Post Lunch, Rabada once again brought his side back into the game by dismissing Iyer and Kohli.

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KL Rahul's unbeaten 70 took India to stumps

However, KL Rahul held one end and kept taking the scoreboard forward as he found some support from Shardul Thakur (24 off 33). The all-rounder was even hurt by a barrage of bouncers by South African bowlers but showed great resilience in the tough period.

Thakur hit one straight to cover as Rabada completed his fifer (5/44). Despite losing partners at the other end, Rahul continued to bat positively and scored a gritty half-century. He took India to stumps on Day 1 with an unbeaten knock of 70* (105) and will be expected to take them past 250 on Day 2.

Meanwhile, X was abuzz with reactions on an action-packed Day 1 of first Test. Here are some of the posts: