India’s Virat Kohli received a hostile welcome from young left-arm pacer Nandre Burger as he arrived at the crease. After dismissing skipper Rohit Sharma, Burger was pumped up as Kohli came out to bat. He challenged Kohli by bowling a full delivery on the middle stump line. Kohli defended it back to the bowler who picked up the ball as shaped as if he would hit the stumps. Kohli did not move away from the line of stumps but took back a step and replied with just a smile.
The incident happened in the 15th over of India’s first innings at Newlands, Cape Town. As Kohli replied with a smile to Burger, the crowd in Cape Town cheered. Meanwhile, the commentators shared a laugh.
On the next delivery, Kohli pushed it towards covers. He got lured into a shot away from his body next ball. However, he was lucky as the outside edge went between the slips and gully fielders. He followed it up with another boundary.
The 35-year-old turned out to be the top-scoring batter on Day 1 as India suffered a massive batting collapse. The visitors lost six wickets for no run as they went from 153/4 to 153 all-out.
Kohli missed his half-century by four runs. His 59-ball 46 was laced with six fours and a six. The only six in the day's play was hit by Kohli as he pulled a short ball from Kagiso Rabada. On the other hand, Burger took three crucial wickets for his side. The first was skipper Rohit Sharma who scored 39 runs from 50 balls. Then, the left-arm pacer dismissed Shubman Gill who scored 36 runs from 55 balls.
His third victim of the day was Shreyas Iyer. The middle-order departed for a two-ball duck. Later, he contributed with a runout as well. His direct hit found Mohammed Siraj short of the crease at the non-striker's end.
As many as 23 wickets fell on Day 1. After South Africa were bundled out for a paltry 55, India were bowled out for 153. The day's play ended with the hosts 62/3 and trailing by 36 runs.
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