Duanne Olivier’s two wickets took him to 50 in Tests, as India were reduced to 53/3 by Lunch on Day 1 of the 2nd Test at the Wanderers.
It was a sluggish start for the Proteas opening bowlers who seemed to be literally off the pace. Kagiso Rabada and Duanne Olivier were bowling under 130 km/h more often than expected, which was surprising.
One of the major reasons for bringing Olivier back into the team was for his pace, but we saw him hit 126 km/h more often than not and flirt with 130-plus.
It was puzzling that the Proteas never opened the bowling with South Africa’s best bowler from Centurion, Lungi Ngidi, to test the openers from ball one. We saw him do exactly that when he was eventually brought on, forcing the batters to play and miss.
Nonetheless, South Africa did bowl better in the first hour than they did at Centurion. India were 42/0 at the drinks break at SuperSport Park. At the Wanderers, they were 36/0. They also made the opposition play a lot more.
Needing a breakthrough, Marco Jansen repaid the selectors for retaining him in the XI by dismissing Mayank Agarwal for 26. The batter played at a fuller length delivery outside off and found an edge to Kyle Verreynne for his first catch behind the stumps.
Olivier struck 12 minutes before lunch, cramping Cheteshwar Pujara for space with a short of a length ball outside off which saw an edge fly to Temba Bavuma in the covers.
Then he made it two in two to take him to 50 Test wickets. Olivie’s short of a length delivery outside off saw Ajinkya Rahane play a loose drive and find an edge to gully.
Losing Virat Kohli to a back spasm before the match has increased the pressure on KL Rahul and the lower order.
India finished the first session on 53/3. It was a good session for SA, who lost the toss and were put in to field.