After a dominating win in Centurion, the South African batting lineup collapsed like a pack of cards in the first session of the Cape Town Test. The Proteas bowlers had to pad up in a jiffy as Mohammed Siraj rushed through their batting lineup with the new ball. Keshav Maharaj walked out to bat in the 16th over as Siraj got rid of David Bedingham and Marco Jansen within four deliveries. Virat Kohli who was in the slip cordon folded as hands as the DJ played ‘Ram Siya Ram’ on Maharaj’s entry. He then followed it up by doing the bow and arrow pose. The video of Kohli has been making rounds on social media.
The devotional song normally plays when Maharaj walks out to bat. He has ‘Om’ written on his bat as well. During the ODI series, Rahul also talked to Maharaj about it as their conversation was heard via stump mic.
Before Maharaj took his guard, Kohli also helped Siraj dismiss Jansen and claim his fifth victim of the day. From the first slip, he signalled Siraj to make him defend on the back foot which will lead to him outside edging one. That's exactly what happened as Jansen was dismissed for a three-ball duck. He edged one to wicketkeeper KL Rahul who completed a regulation catch.
The Indian-origin South African cricketer tried to delay the inevitable in the first session. He managed to score three runs from 13 balls. The right-handed batter fell to Mukesh Kumar as he bowled his first over. On the last ball of the 20th over, he went for a pull shot but ended up handing an easy catch to midwicket fielder Jasprit Bumrah.
South Africa ended up getting bowled out for 55. It is their lowest allout score in the format since their readmission. It is also the lowest all-out total against India in the format.
Siraj took six wickets for just 15 runs in the nine overs he bowled. He became the second Indian bowler to bag a five-wicket haul before lunch on Day 1 of a Test.
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