SA vs IND 1st Test: What was the story of Final Frontier has ended in disappointment, despair and dominance. South Africa have thrashed India by an innings and 32 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. Dean Elgar led from the front in Temba Bavuma’s absence as his 185 blew Indian bowling attack away. With India crashing to 131 in the 2nd innings, Proteas wrapped up the match in three days with Virat Kohli scoring 76. Nandre Burger bagged four wickets while Marco Jansen scalped three. Kagiso Rabada picked up two wickets.
South Africa ended their first innings at 408 as Temba Bavuma did not come out to bat. And the chief architect was Dean Elgar who scored a massive 185. Marco Jansen remained unbeaten on 84 while David Bedingham scored 56 as South Africa took 163-run lead. Earlier India were bowled out for 245 with KL Rahul scoring 101. For India, Jasprit Bumrah bagged four wickets while Mohammed Siraj picked up two.
The veteran opener scored 140 of his side’s 256 runs.
South Africa has taken an 11-run lead in response to India’s first-innings total of 245 all out. In a remarkable display of batting prowess, Dean Elgar, who announced his retirement after this series, crafted his 14th Test century, amassing 23 boundaries from 211 deliveries. Debutant David Bedingham also left his mark with a notable contribution of 56 runs.
India’s bowling effort was led by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, who shared responsibilities and claimed 2-48 and 2-63, respectively. However, the other pacers, Prasidh Krishna (1/61) and Shardul Thakur (0/57), proved to be expensive. Starting the second day at 208/8, Lokesh Rahul played a pivotal role, securing his eighth Test century in the morning session. Rahul’s innings concluded at 101 off 137 deliveries, while South African pacer Kagiso Rabada impressed with figures of 5-59.
Brief Scores:
Day 1: IND 208/8 (KL Rahul 70*, Virat Kohli 38 ; Kagiso Rabada 5/44, Nandre Burge 2/50)
Day 2: IND 245/10 (KL Rahul 101; Kagiso Rabada 5/59)
SA 256/5 (Dean Elgar 140*, Jasprit Bumrah 2/48)
IND vs SA 1st Test: Playing XI
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
South Africa: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (c), Keegan Petersen, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, Nandre Burger