South Africa A started off day one of their first unofficial Test against India A terribly as their top seven were removed for 70 runs.
The surprising metric on day one was that out of the seven wickets that fell, only two were taken by spinners.
Medium pacers Mohammed Siraaj and Shardul Thakur teamed up and took out Aiden Markram (0), Pieter Malan (0), Khaya Zondo (6) and Heinrich Klaasen (0).
The other recognized batsmen in the top order – Zubayr Hamza (13) – fell to left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem (2-37), while spinning all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy was run out and seamer all-rounder Wiaan Mulder was dismissed by right-arm spinner Krishnappa Gowtham (3-64), who also dismissed Dane Piedt for 33.
This presented an embarrassing fall-of-wickets reading – 0-1, 0-2, 18-3, 20-4, 22-5, 52-6, 70-7, 101-8, 131-9 and 164-10.
Marco Jansen was the only shining light for his side, he finished on an unbeaten 45 off 69 balls (2×6; 4×4) as SA A were skittled for 164 in their first innings.
The consensus before the series was that spin would trouble the South Africans on the India tour, hence their focus on spin pre-tour. Instead, they were toppled by medium pace which set up the platform for the spinners to take out the tail.
This unofficial Test series will be crucial for the likes of Markram, Hamza, Klaasen and Muthusamy who are part of the Test squad and are possibly fighting for a spot in the starting XI.
The likes of Piedt and Ngidi will also be looking to get some practice in with the ball, but this series is particularly important for the batsmen, who failed to impressed on day one at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.
Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
