Cape Town : At Newlands Cricket Ground on Wednesday, the first day of the second Test between India and South Africa, the hosts trail the visitors by 36 runs at stumps. However, fast bowlers Mukesh Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah combined for three wickets to give India a slight advantage and leave South Africa at 62/3 in 17 overs.
A thrilling day of Test cricket saw an incredible 23 wickets fall in one day of play. First, Mohammed Siraj bowled South Africa out for just 55 in the first innings with a blistering career-best 6-15. After taking the lead and being comfortably placed at 153/4, India had a spectacular collapse, losing six wickets for just 0 runs.
Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar hit six boundaries in 9.3 overs to get South Africa’s second innings going. But in the next over, Elgar poked at one outside the off-stump off Mukesh Kumar and nicked to first slip, dismissed for 12 off 28 balls in what was his final innings in international cricket.
Elgar was congratulated by on-field Indian players, and given a standing ovation by the crowd over the end of a wonderful international Test career. Shortly after, Tony de Zorzi nicked behind off Mukesh for one, followed by Jasprit Bumrah having Tristan Stubbs caught behind for second time in the day off an unplayable delivery.
A flurry of boundaries from Markram (36 not out) and David Bedingham (seven not out) took Proteas without any further loss to stumps. Day two is now evenly poised, with India having the edge over South Africa at the end of a fast-moving day one.
Previously, In the mid of second session, India were 153/4 with a lead of 98, with Virat Kohli pulling and driving off Kagiso Rabada to pick boundaries with aplomb. Lungi Ngidi, who looked off-colour and conceded 30 runs from five overs, changed the course of the game with a three-wicket maiden over, and waking up the Cape Town crowd from sleep.
He forced Jasprit Bumrah to lob a catch to Gully, used steep bounce to force KL Rahul to upper-cut to keeper Kyle Verreynne, and grabbed the glove edge on Ravindra Jadeja’s attempted fend to the leg-side for Gully to catch.
From the non-striker’s end, Kohli witnessed the Ngidi carnage. On the second ball of the subsequent over, he attempted a hard-handed drive, but the second slip caught the outside edge. After two balls, Siraj was run out, and Rabada quickly ended the innings by having Prasidh Krishna caught at slip.
Ngidi, Rabada and Nandre Burger ended with three wickets each on a pitch which still offers steep bounce and seam movement. India’s sensational implosion is also the first ever instance of six wickets falling on the same score in a Test match, as 20 wickets fell inside two and a half sessions of day one.
Brief Scores: South Africa 55 in 23.2 overs (Kyle Verreynne 15; Mohammed Siraj 6-15) and 62/3 in 17 overs (Aiden Markram 36 not out; Mukesh Kumar 2-25) trail India 153 in 34.5 overs (Virat Kohli 46, Rohit Sharma 39; Lungi Ngidi 3-30, Kagiso Rabada 3-38) by 36 runs.
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