South African seamer Kagiso Rabada wreaked havoc in Centurion as he scalped the wickets of five Indian batsmen in the opening Test of the two-match series to leave the men in blue reeling at 176 runs for the loss of 7 wickets at tea on Day 1 of the five-day fixture.
India were put to bat as South Africa won the toss, which was delayed due to wet patches on the outfield early on in the day.
Protea pacer Nandre Burger struck early as he sent Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill back to the hut early in the game, while Rabada began his torment of the Indian batters with the dismissal of skipper Rohit Sharma, who was dismissed for 5 runs off 14 deliveries as he was caught by Burger in the deep off a pull.
India were in trouble at 24 for three as Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer rode on luck to stabilise the visitors’ innings with unbeaten 67 runs for the fourth wicket but could add just one after the break as Rabada came to the party.
The 28-year-old bowler managed to get rid of Iyer and Kohli post-lunch for 31 and 38 runs respectively, before going on to pick up the scalps of Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur to complete his five-wicket haul on Day 1.
Left-arm seamer Burger looked lethal on his debut Test complimenting Rabada’s attacking spell well.
Indian wicketkeeper KL Rahul, who was unbeaten on 39 runs at tea, and Jasprit Bumrah were out there in the middle for India as the teams broke for a while before the resumtion of play.
Team India have handed a Test debut to pacer Prasidh Krishna, while fellow pacer Mohammed Siraj is the other batter yet to come into play.
India haven’t managed to win a Test series in South Africa and Rohit and Co. will be looking to rewrite the history books by the time the two-match series is over.
Scores:
India: 176 for 7 in 50 overs (KL Rahul 39 batting, Virat Kohli 38, Shreyas Iyer 31; Kagiso Rabada 5/41), Nandre Burger 2/39).
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