It was a blockbuster of an opening day as the first Test between South Africa and India got underway at Newlands in Cape Town.
It was Test cricket at its very best as the world’s No.1 and No.2 sides went head-to-head in the first of a mouthwatering three-match series.
Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bat first. By the close of play, the hosts had managed to get themselves to 286 runs after an early morning wobble. In reply, India were in big trouble at 28-3 before stumps were called.
We look at the good and bad after a fantastic exhibition between bat and ball.
THE GOOD
BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR’S SCORCHES PROTEAS TOP ORDER
The Newlands curator had promised seam movement from day one and he duly delivered on that as Bhuvneshwar Kumar made the most of the conditions on offer.
The seamer removed South Africa’s top three in a three-over burst at the start of the day showing fantastic control of the red-ball as he generated movement both ways.
He removed Dean Elgar with one that seamed away from middle-stump in the first over and then dismissed Aiden Markram with one that nipped in after pitching. The third was the biggest of them all as he got Hashim Amla to poke at one moving away from the right-hander to make it three wickets in as many overs.
He returned to remove Quinton De Kock who was threatening to take the game away from India to complete a fantastic display.
The Indian seamer was on the top of his game at Newlands.
AB DE VILLIERS’ BRILLIANT COUNTER-ATTACK
With the Proteas in dire straits at 12-3, it was left to the pair of Du Plessis and AB De Villiers to rescue the side, something the duo have done many times over the course of their careers.
De Villiers had only just returned to the Test arena after a two-year hiatus in the one-off four-day game against Zimbabwe on Boxing Day but he rolled back the years on Friday with a characteristic counter-attacking knock that took the edge off India’s charged up attack.
He shuffled across off-stump with regularity to create his own angles as he drove and cut with swagger. The 33-year-old piled on the runs in quick time as he found boundaries at will. He combined to put on a 114-run stand with his skipper and notched up his 41st Test fifty on the way before becoming Jasprit Bumrah’s maiden scalp.
De Villiers turned the tide after India had been on top.
THE BAD
INDIA’S SLIP CATCHING WOES RESURFACE
The visitors’ slip-catching has not been on point for some time with some big sitters being dropped in the cordon in the past year or so.
Virat Kohli’s team selection meant India’s best-slip fielder in Ajinkya Rahane did not take the field. There were no dropped chances of the big South African batsmen thankfully but there was a warning sign for things to come when Shikar Dhawan dropped a sitter off the edge of Keshav Maharaj in the final session.
While this drop did not turn out to be too costly for India, they will need to massively up their game in this department as the series progresses.
Dhawan was guilty of dropping a sitter off Maharaj.
INDIA’S BATSMEN FAIL IN THEIR FIRST TEST
India’s hope of ushering in a new era overseas took a battering in their very first hurdle as their age-old failings against the seaming ball came back to haunt them.
With 14 overs to see out before the close of play for the Indian batsmen, it was always going to be a testing period against the Proteas pace quartet and it was one they failed at miserably. The openers and Kohli fell cheaply as India’s top-order mirrored South Africa’s collapse.
However, the fact that all three of India’s dismissals could have been avoided with some sensible batting. Murali Vijay chased a cover drive off a Vernon Philander delivery outside off while Dhawan attempted to pull Dale Steyn when he was in no position to do so.
Kohli’s dismissal will grate the skipper hard after he attempted to play at a steep rising delivery from Morne Morkel outside his off-stump. At 28-3, the visitors have thrown away the advantage they had gained in the morning and will be in for another baptism with fire when they come out to bat on Saturday morning.
Vijay played at one he didn’t need to chase.
