Duanne Olivier’s comeback provided a much-needed boost to South African bowling lineup as they bundled out India for 202 in the first innings of the Centurion Test on Day 1. Olivier’s experience combined with Marco Jansen’s four-wicket haul triggered a collapse as only two Indian batters were able to scored half-centuries even after they managed to get a start on Johannesburg pitch.
Luck favours hosts
Proteas opener Aiden Markram seems to have become Mohammed Shami's bunny. Once again, Shami sent Markram back to the dressing room with the new ball. This time he was trapped in front of the wickets for a score of 7. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj kept skipper Dean Elgar and Keegan Petersen guessing but the wickets kept eluding them. Petersen was dropped by Rishabh Pant off Bumrah's bowling whereas Siraj kept the two batters on their toes. At the end of the day's play, South Africa managed 35/1 and are still trailing by 167 runs. On the other hand, there was an injury scare as well with Siraj leaving the field after complaining of pain in hamstring.
Collapse in Kohli's absence
Earlier, in skipper Virat Kohli’s absence due to upper back spasm, KL Rahul won the toss and opted to bat first. In the first session runs were hard to come by and India lost three wickets. Opener Mayank Agarwal became Jansen’s first victim as he departed after scoring 26 runs. Agarwal was timing the ball well but his innings was cut-short by the young left-arm fast bowler.
In his second spell, Olivier got two wickets off consecutive deliveries removing India’s underperforming batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. Pujara scored three runs whereas Rahane got out for a golden duck.
Replacing Kohli in the lineup, Hanuma Vihari started well but was undone by Rassie van der Dussen’s brilliant catch at short leg off Kagiso Rabada’s bowling. Vihari scored 20 runs off 53 deliveries. Rishabh Pant too got off to a decent start but lost his wicket to Jansen. The wicketkeeper-batter got out for 17 after inside edging a delivery from Jansen. Rahul too fell to Jansen but not before scoring 50 runs on his Test captaincy debut.
Ashwin's counter-attack
Ravichandran Ashwin missed his 12th Test half-century but his wild counter-attack helped India get some crucial runs on the board. While Shardul Thakur disappointed with a five-ball duck, Ashwin took on Proteas fast bowlers. Mohammed Shami shared a crucial mini-partnership for the ninth wicket. In consecutive overs, Shami and Ashwin lost their wickets. Ashwin got out after scoring 46 runs from 50 deliveries. Towards the end of the innings, Jasprit Bumrah scored a quickfire 14 off 11 deliveries including two fours and one six.
For South Africa, Jansen took a four-wicket haul whereas Rabada and Olivier took three wickets each. India could survive 63.1 overs on a pacer-friendly Johannesburg wicket. While India got all out for 202, it is to be noted that in their last Test win at the venue, they scored 187 in the first innings.
