Virat took 158 balls but managed to climb the half century point and scores a brilliant fifty against South Africa. Virat, who was ruled out for the second Test, came back and scored this year’s first fifty. With questions being raised on his performance, Virat silenced the crowd with what he is best at. This is the second slowest Test 50 for Virat Kohli, with Nagpur Test against England being the first where he faced 171 balls before scoring 50. Teammates applaud skipper’s one-man performance while he raises his bat. But his attitude says there’s long way to go as every touch today has stroked mind-blowing shots. Birthday coach Rahul seems happy with skipper’s performance, despite early wickets for team India is still a problem to survive this day.
Virat left 50% of the 158 deliveries and still managed to score his 28th Test 50. Virat scored his last Test century on 23rd November, 2019 which was his 70th century and have went 29 months without scoring a single century. A manageable fifty against South Africa can be a moment for him to score big after a long time.
With Virat on 50, Pant gets dismissed on 27(50) on a short-ball, bowled by Marco Jansen and caught by Keegan Petersen. Ashwin was preferably a hope for a good partnership, yet gets out very early, giving Marco his third wicket. Keshav Maharaj bags in his first, dismissing Shardul Thakur, Virat still stands and seems to gear up and while he seems to hit fours, and is close to yet another Test century. Is the long wait for fans to watch King Kohli raising up his bat for century over? However, it will be very difficult for the skipper as Indian team lost their 8th wicket. Pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah departs and it seems team India will be bowling in the first day as well.