Proteas bounce back
ADVANTAGE: PHILANDER, STEYN AND MORKEL TAKE OUT INDIA’S TOP THREE
On the liveliest of Newlands pitches, India were left in dire straits at stumps on the first day of the first Test against SA due to some poor shot selection late yesterday.
India closed on 28/3, giving the Proteas the advantage after they had scrapped their way to 286 all out earlier in the day.
Left with 11 overs to face, India lost Murali Vijay (1), edging to gully as he tried to drive Vernon Philander well outside off stump, Shikhar Dhawan (16), skying an attempted pull off Dale Steyn straight up as the ball was not short enough, and the big scalp of captain Virat Kohli (5), prodding nervously at Morne Morkel’s first delivery and being caught behind.
“It was an intense day but we’re very happy,” SA batting coach Dale Benkenstein said after the close. “We fought hard in very tough conditions and we had some tough decisions to make. The overhead conditions said bat first, but there was extra grass on the pitch. So we were under pressure up front.”
Winning the toss and choosing to bat while also selecting four frontline pacemen raised a few eyebrows, and Proteas captain Faf du Plessis’ decision was under even more scrutiny by the “experts” when the entire top-order was blown away by some superbly skilful swing bowling by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took wickets in each of his first three overs.
Dean Elgar (0) edged the first ball that was on target and was caught behind, Aiden Markram (5) was lbw to a big inswinger that followed a bunch of deliveries that went away, and Hashim Amla (3) tried to drive too forcefully off the back foot against Bhuvneshwar’s tight off-stump line and also edged a catch behind the wicket.
At 12/3, SA were in crisis, but AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, were brought together and added 114 for the fourth wicket off just 170 deliveries, a counter-attacking run-rate of 4.02 runs per over.
Jaspreet Bumrah, brought into the Indian Test side for the first time, ended the partnership seven overs after lunch by bowling De Villiers off the inside edge, but the former skipper’s 65 off 84 balls, with 11 fours, was an exceptional innings on a tricky pitch.
Du Plessis fell to Hardik Pandya two overs later for 62, which included 12 boundaries, and SA were 142/5. An aggressive Quinton de Kock (43 off 40) and Philander (23) got together for a quickfire 60-run stand and the tail, led by 35 from Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada’s 26, cobbled together another 84 runs.