A Mayank Agarwal ton and fifties from Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli put India in a dominant position despite Kagiso Rabada’s 3 wickets, writes Naeemah Benjamin.
Faf du Plessis lost the toss again, his 6th in a row and the Proteas were put into bowl at Pune on a wicket that offered assistance to the bowlers. South Africa, however, did not grab their chances as they would have liked.
SA definitely had chances and Rabada bowling a beautiful delivery to get Rohit for 14 was just what they needed. The scoreboard at the lunch break read 77-1.
READ: Session Moments: Kagiso Rabada dismisses Rohit Sharma
After the break, it was a much better bowling performance by the visitors despite debutant Anrich Nortje bowling too full at times. They were a bit unlucky to only have India 1 down.
Cheteshwar Pujara brought up his 22nd fifty before sole wicket-taker Rabada struck to claim his second of the day removing Pujara for 58 off 112 balls (9 fours and 1 six), breaking the 138-run stand.
Inda were 168-2 at the Tea break leaving SA with more unanswered questions.
READ: Session Moments: Kagiso Rabada gives Proteas hope
After his double hundred in the first Test, Agarwal registered another century. He looked in great touch and went about his business in a composed manner. He surely gave South Africa a headache as he drove Nortje three times in one over earlier in the day. There was just no stopping him, was there?
Into the third session with the India skipper fresh at the crease, not having Rabada bowling was frustrating to watch and when he eventually came back into the attack he immediately added to his wicket tally and dismissed the centurion for 108 from 195 balls (16 fours and 2 sixes). That wicket was the 24-year-olds 180th Test wicket.
Thereafter, Kohli registered a 23rd Test fifty and his first for 2019. His partnership with Ajinkya Rahane was worth 40 runs with the former looking in his typical run-getting mood.
Will SA be able to stop him early on day 2 and deny him a ton? Tune in tomorrow to find out
Vernon Philander might not have picked a wicket but his figures of 0-37 only tell half the story, he was bowling well consistently.
The rest of the bowlers will need to be better as a collective.
With KG being the exception, the bowlers being inconsistent and not picking up wickets is concerning.
Maharaj who has been a true shining light for the visitors whenever Faf turned to him has been disappointing on this tour so far, and is nearing his third century…with the ball.
Day 2 kicks off at 6 am (SA time)
Photo: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix
