Johannesburg: India lost the crucial wickets of skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane in the second session to crawl to 114/4 at tea on the opening day of the third and final Test against South Africa at the New Wanderers Stadium here on Wednesday.
At the break, stumper Parthiv Patel was yet to open his account even as he accompanied No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara (27 not out) when the umpires called for an end to the post-lunch session which yielded 69 runs.
Resuming at 45/2, Kohli (54) and Pujara carried on their defiant third wicket stand with the former getting lucky twice (on 11 and 32) en-route his 16th Test half century.
But Kohli ran out of luck immediately after reaching his fifty when he drove a Lungi Ngidi delivery away from the body and edged it to third slip where Ab de Villiers made no mistake this time.
De Villiers had earlier dropped the 29-year-old Kohli off Morne Morkel when the India skipper was batting on 32 while Vernon Philander dropped one early in the first session when Kohli was on 11.
Kohli’s fall brought in his deputy Rahane (9), who had a lucky escape when Philander overstepped and had him caught behind. But the Mumbai batsman soon fell to Morkel even as the review showed that the ball would have kissed his leg stick.
Pujara, known for his dogged approach, went on with his cautious approach consuming 145 deliveries for his 27 runs, with four hits to the fence.
Earlier, India lost the opening pair of Murali Vijay (8) and Lokesh Rahul (0) cheaply after electing to bat, with a couple of changes to the playing XI.
Brief scores: India first innings: 114/2 (Virat Kohli 54; Cheteshwar Pujara 27 batting; Lungi Ngidi 1/7, Vernon Philander 1/22) vs South Africa at tea on Day 1.(IANS)
