IND vs SA 1st Test, Day 1 Stumps: Rahul helps India dominate

IND vs SA 1st Test, Day 1 Highlights: India dominate Day 1- It was one of the rare days when everything went according to plans for Virat Kohli-led Team India. Kohli won the toss and opted to bat first on a fresh Centurion pitch and got a great start. Thanks to Makaynk Agarwal’s 60 and KL Rahul’s unbeaten century, India posted 272/3 at the close of play on Day 1. Follow India vs South Africa 1st Test LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN

At Stumps on Day 1, India’s score read 272/3 with KL Rahul (122*) and Ajinkya Rahane (40*) unbeaten at the crease. For South Africa, Lungi Ngidi was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped three wickets, including Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Resuming their third session at 157/2, the duo of Virat and Rahul played steady innings and kept on scoring runs from both ends. Unfortunately, Virat failed to leave a mark in the match as he got dismissed on 35 by Ngidi, with Men in Blue’s score read 199/3.

IND vs SA 1st Test, Day 1 Stumps: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal help India dominate Day 1 of Boxing Day Test – IND 272/3

Also Read: IND vs SA Live: KL Rahul 2.0 continues to impress, hammers first Test century against South Africa

It was later Rahane, who joined Rahul and brought some momentum in the game. Their partnership kept the scoreboard moving for India. Earlier, Ngidi had dismissed Mayank Agarwal on 60 and Cheteshwar Pujara for a golden duck.

IND vs SA Stat attack:

272/3 – was India’s third-highest total on Day 1 outside Asia

372/7 v SA Bloemfontein 2001/02
302/4 v WI North Sound 2016
272/3 v SA Centurion 2021/22
272/6 v Eng Leeds 1952

122*: KL Rahul’s century on Day 1 is only the second after Murali Vijay on Day 1 outside Asia

122* M Vijay v Eng Trent Bridge 2014
122* KL Rahul v SA Centurion 2021/22

IND vs SA 1st Test, Day 1 Stumps: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal help India dominate Day 1 of Boxing Day Test – IND 272/3

During the first session, the hosts’ bowlers failed to make early inroads as they barely produced a chance in the first session. They bowled all kinds of lengths in the first session but none had any impact on visitors’ openers. Apart from Kagiso Rabada, no other bowler threatened the opening partnership of India.

With a 50-plus opening partnership, this was India’s first fifty-plus opening stand in SA since December 2010 (Sehwag and Gambhir). Visitors’ had no 50-plus opening partnership in any of the Tests on their last two tours of South Africa.

IND vs SA 1st Test, Day 1 Stumps: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal help India dominate Day 1 of Boxing Day Test – IND 272/3

India Vs South-Africa LIVE: Rahul Dravid’s ‘SPECIAL MESSAGE’ for Virat Kohli & Team India, ‘seize your moment in history’

India 1st Innings: 272/3

Batsmen		R	B	4S	6S	SR
KL Rahul	Not out	122	248	17	1	49.19
Mayank Agarwal	lbw b L Ngidi	60	123	9	0	48.78
Cheteshwar Pujara	c KD Petersen b L Ngidi	0	1	0	0	0.00
Virat Kohli (C)	c Wiaan Mulder b L Ngidi	35	94	4	0	37.23
Ajinkya Rahane	Not out	40	81	8	0	49.38
Extra	15 (b 4, w 0, nb 7, lb 4)
Total	272/3 (90)
Yet To Bat	Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, M Shami, JJ Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

BOWLING	O	M	R	W	ECON
Kagiso Rabada	20	5	51	0	2.55
Lungi Ngidi	17	4	45	3	2.65
Marco Jansen	17	4	61	0	3.59
Wiaan Mulder	18	3	49	0	2.72
Keshav Maharaj	18	2	58	0	3.22

Fall Of Wickets	FOW	Over
MA Agarwal	1-117	40.2
CA Pujara	2-117	40.3
Virat Kohli	3-199	68.2

IND vs SA LIVE Score: Day 1, 3rd session, 6th hour

Day 1, Stumps: India take honours on Day 1 as KL Rahul remains unbeaten on 122 and Ajinkya Rahane on 40. India post 272/3 on Day 1.
The second new ball hasn’t worked for South Africa. KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane have taken control of proceedings.
Another 50-run partnership for India. KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane have shouldered on after Kohli’s wicket.
KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane bring up 250 for India.
South Africa take second new ball.
CENTURY! The wait is over. KL Rahul slams 7th Test century to continue his purple run going. It was first in South Africa.
KL Rahul moves to 99
Ajinkya Rahane has got the over early nerves and going strong.

IND vs SA 1st Test, Day 1 Stumps: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal help India dominate Day 1 of Boxing Day Test – IND 272/3

IND vs SA LIVE Score: Day 1, 3rd session, 5th hour

KL-Rahane bring up 200 runs for India.
Ajinkya Rahane comes in. He has to play a career-saving knock here.
WICKET! Seven consecutive dot balls and Kohli nicks one. Ngidi undoes all of Kohli’s hard work.
SIX! First six for India and KL Rahul takes on Maharaj for a big 6.
50-run stand: Virat Kohli and KL Rahul bring up 50-run stand.
FOUR! Virat Kohli on song, brings up his signature drive to hammer Rabada for a 4.
Virat Kohli and KL Rahul resume 3rd session and both are currently chasing individual milestones.

IND vs SA LIVE Score: Day 1, 2nd session, 3rd hour

FOUR! Last over before tea and KL Rahul hammers Mulder for a 4.
DROPPED! A difficult catch and Marco Jansen drops it. KL Rahul survives.
FIFTY! KL Rahul brings up his half-century. His 13th in Tests and first in South Africa.
Virat Kohli comes in to stop the slide.
WICKET! Cheteshwar Pujara out on golden duck. His torrid run continues.
WICKET! DRS! Rather long DRS with ball tracking coming in only after long five minutes. The umpire initially gave not out but the third umpire reversed the decision to out.
KL Rahul now closes in on his half-century.
100-run stand: Mayank and KL bring up 100-run stand for India. This is only the third time Indian openers have scored 100-run partnership in South Africa.
FIFTY! Mayank Agarwal brings up his half-century, his first in South Africa. He scored 150 and 62 against NZ in Mumbai.

IND vs SA 1st Test, Day 1 Stumps: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal help India dominate Day 1 of Boxing Day Test – IND 272/3

IND vs SA LIVE Score: Day 1, 1st session, 2nd hour

Lunch: India take the first session pretty easily. The only chance was created by Marco Jansen but De Kock failed to grab it.
Kehsav Maharaj comes into attack after fast bowlers fail against Indian openers.
Mayank closes in on consecutive half-centuries.
50-run stand between Mayank and KL. India are off to a good start.
A fine 50-run partnership comes up between #TeamIndia openers – @mayankcricket & @klrahul11 💪💪#SAvIND pic.twitter.com/4KjYE2nhqL

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 26, 2021
DROPPED! Big chance but Quinton de Kock fails to grab it. Mayank survives and Marco Jansen is disappointed.
Both Mayank and KL have been disciplined so far. They haven’t gone for the drive and it has helped.
Wiaan Mulder resumes after drinks break.

IND vs SA 1st Test, Day 1 Stumps: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal help India dominate Day 1 of Boxing Day Test – IND 272/3

IND vs SA LIVE Score: Day 1, 1st session, 1st hour

India off to a good start and this is KL-Mayank’s highest partnership in Tests.
Another change in bowling. Wiaan Mulder comes into the attack.
FOUR! Expensive over from Jansen.
FOUR! Another four for Mayank. This time he punched it on the leg-side and Jansen goes for a second 4.
FOUR! Marco Jansen makes his Test debut. But with a full toss that goes for a 4.
FOUR! KL Rahul this time and KL gets his first boundary.
Stead start from Mayank and KL. They have negated early advantage for SA bowlers
FOUR! Widish delivery and Mayank pushes it for a 4. First one for India and Mayank.
Mayank opens his account. KL and Mayank have been playing together since U-13 level for Karnataka and now are opening again for India. The last time, the two opened in Test cricket against Australia, it didn’t go well.
Kagiso Rabada opens bowling for SA, Mayank & KL Rahul open batting for India.

IND vs SA 1st Test, Day 1 Stumps: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal help India dominate Day 1 of Boxing Day Test – IND 272/3

13:05 PM: Ishant Sharma is expectedly dropped. Ajinkya Rahane gets an opportunity that could be his last. Shardul Thakur gets a chance. That means Shreyas Iyer is benched.

Captain @imVkohli wins the toss and #TeamIndia will bat first.

A look at our Playing XI for the 1st Test.#SAvIND pic.twitter.com/DDACnaXiK8

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 26, 2021

India opted to go with the five-bowlers template with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj taking up the frontline seamers slots while Shardul Thakur occupied the all-rounder’s position. R Ashwin is the sole spinner.

India started the day well with a cautious approach and hardly going for any wider deliveries. While Mayank Agarwal edged one to the first slip, Quinton de Kock dropped it.

India Playing XI: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

South Africa Playing XI: Dean Elgar(c), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock(w), Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi

🚨 TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT

🇿🇦💚 It’s a day to cherish for Marco Jansen as he makes his Test debut

📺 Catch it live on SuperSport Grandstand and SABC 3
📝 Ball by Ball https://t.co/c1ztvrT95P #SAvIND #FreedomTestSeries #BetwayTestSeries #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/kcZENS6A1u

— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) December 26, 2021

IND vs SA 1st Test, Day 1 Stumps: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal help India dominate Day 1 of Boxing Day Test – IND 272/3

13:00 PM IST: Ishant Sharma dropped, India bat first in Centurion.

12:40 PM IST: No warm-up for Ishant Sharma, does it mean, Shardul gets the nod?

Huddle talk ☑️#TeamIndia #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/SDCjqcDd7s

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 26, 2021

12:35 PM IST: Dark clouds hovering over Centurion but the match is set for a timely start.

12:20 PM IST:

“I thought if I can’t get the best out of Rohit then I’m a failure as a coach” – @RaviShastriOfc

Catch the former #TeamIndia coach reveal it all on #BoldAndBrave: The Shastri Way#Byjus #CricketLIVE | Day 1, Lunch | 1st #SAvIND Test | Star Sports & Disney+Hotstar pic.twitter.com/OXsM8AvqEO

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 26, 2021

IND vs SA 1st Test, Day 1 Stumps: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal help India dominate Day 1 of Boxing Day Test – IND 272/3

🇿🇦The #Proteas get their #FreedomTestSeries campaign underway today against @BCCI at SuperSport Park💪

📺 Catch it live on SuperSport Grandstand and SABC 3
📝 Ball by Ball https://t.co/c1ztvrT95P #SAvIND #BetwayTestSeries #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/P5MRdyGFwa

— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) December 26, 2021