It was intense. It was unbelievable at times. Reckless shot playing or bad luck? South Africa vs. India has always been a gripping contest throughout the years. But the first day of the second test surpassed everything that happened in the history of this epic rivalry. The Proteas were made to bat twice on the same day after both teams suffered collapses in their respective first innings. A scintillating show of vintage pace bowling was in display as 22 of the 23 wickets were claimed by the pacers.
Team Lineups
Both teams made a host of changes to their teams that took field during the first test at Centurion. South African skipper Temba Bavuma is out with an injury and Tristan Stubbs takes his place in the team. Gerald Coetzee is also out with a knock and Lungi Ngidi comes in. Keshav Maharaj comes in as a genuine spinning option while Keegan Petersen is benched for this game.
India made a couple of changes to the team that was humbled at the Centurion. Ravindra Jadeja comes in for Ravichandran Ashwin. Shardul Thakur had a shocking performance in the last game. He was replaced by a genuine pace option in the form of Mukesh Kumar. The 30 year old was set to play his second test match after making his debut in July last year.
South Africa
- Dean Elgar (Cap.) 2. Aiden Markram 3. Tony de Zorzi 4. Tristan Stubbs 5. David Bedingham 6. Kyle Verreynne (WK) 7. Marco Jansen 8. Keshav Maharaj 9. Kagiso Rabada 10. Nandre Burger 11. Lungi Ngidi
India
- Rohit Sharma (Cap.) 2. Yashasvi Jaiswal 3. Shubman Gill 4. Virat Kohli 5. Shreyas Iyer 6. KL Rahul (WK) 7. Ravindra Jadeja 8. Jasprit Bumrah 9. Mohammed Siraj 10. Prasidh Krishna 11. Mukesh Kumar
South African stand-in skipper Dean Elger won the toss and chose to bat first. Despite a covering of grass on the surface, the pitch looked in pretty decent shape for batting. The Newlands pitch traditionally helps the spinners in the later part of the game. The ideal scenario would be to bat first and make a 300+ score to put the opponents under pressure after the first innings.
Fixture
This is the 44th meeting in test cricket between these two titans of the game. South Africa has won 15 of those meetings, with India emerging victorious on 15 occasions. In the games that were played on South African soil, India managed 4 victories to South Africa’s 13.
| Venue | The match is taking place at the beautiful Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town, which has a capacity of 25,000 spectators. |
| Date | The match started at 10:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday, January 3. |
Captaincy & Tactics
The South African stand-in skipper Dean Elger took field for the last time in his ODI career. Elger chose to bat first despite the pitch looking menacing with a patch of green on it. The Indian bowlers stick to the fourth-fifth stump line. Mohammed Siraj was able to shape the ball away from the right hander. The ball that pitched on good lengths seemed to take off from the surface. Even the old ball was doing the trick. It was an almost impossible job to bat on this surface.
Siraj was bowling at a tight line and the wickets kept tumbling throughout his nine over spell. It was not about the pace, but the bounce this pitch generated. The Proteas batsmen where gone before they knew what hit them.
India started their innings brightly, but eventually they also lost their way. Virat Kohli looked to be comfortable along with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill who played some dazzling drives and pull shots. 76% of the Indian
runs in the first innings were played from balls that pitched on good length. But once KL Rahul got out as fifth batsman for the Indians, things went downhill after that. None of the rest could register even a single run. The almighty collapse gave South Africa the chance to get back in the game.
Mukesh Kumar bowled with poise that belied his little experience at the test level. The right arm pacer was able to hit the right channels and reaped the rewards for this. Aiden Markram played positively and was left as the only beacon of light at the end of a dismal day for South African cricket.
Batting Analysis
On a day of twists and turns, South Africa’s Dean Elgar joined a special list of players dismissed twice in a single day of their last Test match. The southpaw opener followed in the footsteps of Australia’s Jack Barrett, who played his last test match way back in 1890.
After choosing to bat first, Elgar was bowled by Mohammed Siraj off an inside edge for after scoring only 4 runs in the first. The predicament never improved for the South Africans, their batting unit crumbled quickly, folding in a mere 23.2 overs. Siraj’s exceptional new-ball spell of 6 wickets for 15 runs skittled South Africa for a meagre total of 55 runs. This score turned out to be the lowest total ever recorded against India in Test cricket. This entire collapse happened on the first session, even before the lunch break
India wasted little time to seize the opportunity; they took the lead in less than ten overs. Rohit Sharma played at a brisk pave, he provided vital runs during the early exchanges of the Indian innings. However, a late collapse initiated by a three wicket over by Lungi Ngidi made sure the Africans would find a leeway into the match.
Aiden Markram was the first batter to be dismissed on a day that looked straight out of hightlights reel. However he managed to survive for 51 balls to ensure South Africa would be within touching distance of the lead of India. But the 36 run lead looks promising on a surface that proved to be a gauntlet even for the seasoned batters of both sides.
Remarkably, South Africa managed to control only 55 of the shots they played in their first innings. This resulted in their disastrous score. A staggering one in every five mistakes proved incredibly costly. In a similar fashion, India was not in control of 50 of their shots, maintaining the same ratio of one in five. The first day have only seen 7 double digit scores from a total of 25 batters, a testament to the tough batting conditions at Newlands. If this Test concludes within 34.1 overs on Thursday, this would be a new record for the lowest number of balls to finish a test with results.
Kohli looked fluent like he did in his epic innings against New Zealand at the last World Cup. But he joined a procession of batters who seemed to be in a hurry to return to the pavilion. It would be interesting to see how the batters would approach the bowlers on the second day of this historic test.
Bowling Analysis
It was Siraj who opened the floodgates for the mayhem on Wednesday with truly outstanding deliveries. He hit the perfect length and found the outside edge of the bat at regular intervals. The Hyderabadi pacer continued his impressive form in Centurion with an incisive new-ball spell, although he could consider himself to be mightily unlucky in the first Test. But this time he made his own luck by bowling beautifully with the help from the present conditions.
During the game, Siraj kept probing around off stump line. This caused trouble for the right-handers. He managed to trap Elgar and Tony de Zorzi with deliveries targeting the middle-and-leg line. Rohit Sharma also deserves credit for a clever field arrangement with a deepish short leg and leg slip. Elgar fell for it and ended up chopping the ball onto his own stumps, while de Zorzi fell victim to a catch down the leg side taken by KL Rahul.
However, it was the dismissal of David Bedingham that had everyone excited in Cape Town. Siraj bowled a length ball outside off, and the ball viciously jumped up, hitting Bedingham’s glove and ballooning to third slip. Mukesh Kumar, who replaced Shardul Thakur in the XI, also made his presence felt by taking care of the remaining tail-enders.
When India came out to bat, Rohit Sharma took an attacking approach against Ngidi and Nandre Burger, who lacked the accuracy of Kagiso Rabada with the new ball. Ngidi seemed to be bowling like someone playing his first first-class match in over a year, serving up juice half volleys to the batsmen. Burger, on the other hand, started off the proceedings by bowling too full. He eventually adjusted his length and hit the shoulder of Rohit’s bat. Burger also knocked over Shubman Gill for 36 and Shreyas Iyer for a duck, leaving India reeling at 110 for 4.
But the king was still out there. Virat Kohli was at the crease to steady the ship. He looked comfortable in the middle and continued to play his shots, especially those picturesque cover drives. Ngidi returned to the attack with revamped energy, bowling at full tilt, running in hard, and hitting the deck even harder. In the 34th over, he dismissed Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jasprit Bumrah within three deliveries. The seam movement and variable bounce proved too challenging to handle, resulting in a collapse of 6 wickets for 0 runs. Kohli himself was a victim of that collapse.
Fielding Analysis
It was the day for the bowlers and the fielders from both sides helped their bowlers. Aiden Markram was exceptional at the slip cordon and pouched two catches safely. Jaiswal from India was brilliant as well; he completed three catches during the South African batting collapse.
The wicket keepers were also impeccable behind the stumps. KL Rahul put behind his much maligned performances with the glove. However, the carry off the surface helped them to a great extent.
Key Performances
It was September for Mohammed Siraj once again. The Hyderabadi pace bowler claimed six wickets in the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka last year. He repeated that feat, this time wearing the hallowed white of test cricket. Siraj finished the first innings with a staggering figure of six wickets for 15 runs in just nine overs. Jasprit Bumrah claimed two wickets for 25 runs. Mukesh Kumar bowled 14 deliveries in the first innings, took two wickets without giving away any runs. David Bedingham and Kyle Verreynne were the only two batsmen from the host team who got past double figures.
Rohit Sharma was looking good, channeling his attacking self from the last World Cup. The Indian skipper scored 39 runs. Shubman Gill also played some sublime shots on his way to 36. Virat Kohli was the top scorer for the touring team with 46 runs. 7 of the Indian batsmen failed to register on the scoreboard. The triumvirate of Rabada, Ngidi and Burger claimed three wickets each.
Aiden Markram looked good while batting for the second time on the first day. The right hander finished the day with an unbeaten score of 36 runs from 51 balls. Dean Elger’s last ever test innings was short lived, he managed only 12 runs to his impressive tally of test runs. Mukesh Kumar was the star in the 2nd innings with two wickets for 25 runs.
Turning Point
India was in a comfortable place after the completion of the 33rd over. Virat Kohli was batting elegantly at 46 with KL Rahul at 8. Lungi Ngidi pitched one on the good length that seamed away from the batsman. KL Rahul tried to nudge it away but only managed to edge it to the Proteas wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne. This incident caused a landslide of epic proportions. Neither Ravindra Jadeja nor Jasprit Bumrah were able to survive in the face of a barrage of bouncers from Ngidi. Both went back to the pavilion after facing two balls each without bothering the scores. Kagiso Rabada came in to bowl the next over of the match. Virat Kohli was caught by Aiden Markram on the second ball of Rabada over. Two balls later, Mohammed Siraj was run out through a comedy of errors. On the next delivery. Prasidh Krishna was dismissed. India lost their last six wickets without adding any runs to their total. This is the first time in the history of test cricket where a team had lost the last six batsmen at the same score. The seven ducks is also a joint record in test cricket.
Day Result
South Africa is trailing India by 36 runs with seven wickets in hand.
Brief Scorecard
| South Africa First Innings: 55/10 (23.2 overs) | India First Innings: 153/10 (34.5 overs) | South Africa Second Innings:62/3 (17 overs) |
| Kyle Verreynne 15 (30) | Virat Kohli 46 (59) | Aiden Markram 36 (51) |
| David Bedingham 12 (17) | Rohit Sharma 39 (50) | Dean Elgar 12 (28) |
| Mohammed Siraj 6/15 | Lungi Ngidi 3/30 | Mukesh Kumar 2/25 |
| Mukesh Kumar 2/0 | Kagiso Rabada 3/38 | Jasprit Bumrah 1/25 |
Day Highlights
Day Wrap-Up
It was a berserk day in test cricket with bowlers dominating the proceedings throughout the entirety of first day of the second test. Mohammed Siraj was unplayable and ended the first innings with six wickets. India were fighting well until a collapse of tremendous magnitude hit them, and they lost their last six wickets within 11 balls. South Africa batted well in the second innings but the brilliance of Mukhesh Kumar made sure India would be ahead after the first day. It would be interesting to see how the pitch behaves on the second day. South Africa would be looking to get past the Indian lead as soon as possible on the second day.
