It was one of those days when you take a short coffee break, come back and the score makes your jaws drop. In just 11 balls, India went from 153/4 to 153 all out. It was not just a collapse of epic proportions but a collapse never seen in the history of Test cricket. India lost six wickets without adding a single run to their score. This is the first instance of a team losing six wickets on the same score in a Test.
Also, six Indian batters got out for ducks. This is the second instance of six Indian batters getting out for ducks. The first was in 2014 when India were bowled out for 152 against England in Manchester. Also, this is the eighth instance of six batters bagging ducks in an innings of a Test match.
This was the first instance of both sides losing all 10 wickets on a single day of a Test at Newlands, Cape Town.
Earlier, South Africa were bowled out for 55, their lowest score in Test cricket since their readmission. Both teams played a combined 349 deliveries as they got bowled out on Day 1. The 349 deliveries faced is the second-fewest ever in Test cricket for the first two innings.
The collapse started in the 34th over of India's innings. Lungi Ngidi got KL Rahul's wicket as the latter was surprised by the bounce and edged one to wicketkeeper Kyle Verrerynne. The extra bounce got the better of Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah too as they departed for two-ball ducks.
Then Virat Kohli's stay at the crease came to an end as he looked to score with wickets falling at the other end. Then the last thing India wanted in the situation happened, a run out which saw Mohammed Siraj returning to the pavillion. Prasidh Krishna did not last long at the crease either and edged one off Kagiso Rabada's fifth ball of the over as India’s first-innings lead was restricted to 98 runs.
Rabada, Ngidi, and Nandre Burger shared the spoils as they took three wickets each. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer were the other two batters to get out for ducks.
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