SA vs IND: 3rd Test, Day 1 – Kohli’s lone battle against Rabada & co lights up the day
Indian batters endured a hard time on the opening day of the ongoing third Test against South Africa. With the series being poised at 1-1, the winner of this contest would walk away with the series win. Virat Kohli won the toss in the crucial fixture and elected to bat at the tricky Newlands track in Cape Town. The pitch had assistance for bowlers right from the outset as India lost wickets at regular intervals.
However, Kohli, who missed the preceding Test due to an upper back spasm, put up a batting exhibition and scored a valiant 79. As he didn’t get much support from the other end, India got bundled out for 223. While the visitors wouldn’t have been satisfied with the score, Jasprit Bumrah made the contest even by sending Dean Elgar cheaply. South Africa eventually finished the day at 17/1, trailing by 206 runs.
Meanwhile, let’s look at the talking points of Day 1:
3. Virat Kohli’s valiant knock
Virat Kohli’s cover drives today 😍#WTC23 | https://t.co/Wbb1FE1P6t pic.twitter.com/0est8vxNnQ
— ICC (@ICC) January 11, 2022
The wait for Kohli’s 71st international ton might have extended but this 79 shouldn’t be undervalued by any means. The Indian skipper was watchful throughout his knock as he hardly played any rash shot. In fact, Kohli reached the 50-run mark on his 158th delivery, the second-slowest of his Test career. With wickets falling from the other end, Kohli was forced to up the ante and fell prey to Kagiso Rabada in the process.
2. Kagiso Rabada’s four-fer
Now, Kohli wasn’t Rabada’s only victim on the opening day. Standing in his 50th Test, the South African pace spearhead spit venom with the red cherry and tormented Indian batters whenever he came on to bowl. He also dismissed the likes of Mayank Agarwal and Ajinkya Rahane cheaply as India couldn’t post a potent score.
1. Marco Jansen being the partnership breaker
Rabada received great assistance from youngster Marco Jansen, who continues to impress in his debut Test series. The left-arm pacer took three wickets in the day with two of them coming at crucial times. Jansen dismissed the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant when the duo looked all set to play a significant knock. However, the young pacer ruined their party.
