India opt to bat first, lost both its openers very early, as South African bowlers – Kagiso Rabada and Duanne Olivier bowled well forcing the batsman to play and ultimately getting caught. KL Rahul, who has been playing well as an opener, gave in his wicket very early at 12(35), when Kyle Verreynne took a stunning catch, bagging Olivier his first wicket of the day.
Kyle has proved his replacement to be right, as he got a chance to play after Quinton De Kock decided to retire from the Test format.
Rabada failing to start well and was struggling a bit with line and length, managed to take Mayank Agarwal’s wicket in successive overs. Mayank too got out early scoring 15 off 35. After breaking down the opening partnership for team India, both the bowlers, fortunately, caught the rhythm to bowl ruthlessly, until Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli showed in the patience mode, which forced captain Elgar to bring in Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen. Nonetheless, South Africa would be the happier side, as the pre-lunch session for Day-1 seemed fortunate for the team. It’s time for Virat and Pujara, the two experienced top-class players to give India a good lead. Birthday coach, Rahul Dravid will be hoping for a century gift from captain Kohli. With Virat batting at 15(50)* and Pujara gearing up with 26* off 49, both the players are ready to balance the team’s lead with a not-out partnership of 42 off 95. It would be early to predict the winner of this trophy snatching game, but the first session raises the bid for South Africa.
