Centurion, Dec 26: KL Rahul struck a fighting half-century after Kagiso Rabada claimed his first five-wicket haul against India as the visitors struggled to 208/8 against South Africa when rain and bad light truncated the opening day of the first Test at SuperSport Park on Tuesday.
Rabada bowled with pace and a lot of control to take advantage of a pitch with variable bounce, claiming 5-44 in an absorbing afternoon session in which the hosts claimed four wickets while the visitors added 85 runs.
This is Rabada’s 14th five-wicket haul in 61 Tests and the first against India as the 28-year-old kept pace with South African legend Shaun Pollock, who got his 14 in 60 Tests.
KL Rahul took over after that as he played his shots to good advantage as he completed his half-century off 80 balls, hitting seven boundaries and two sixes. He helped India cross the psychological mark of 200 with a couple of wickets in hand.When stumps were called with the light fading fast following a slight drizzle, Rahul was batting on 70 off 105 deliveries, hitting 10 boundaries and two sixes, keeping the visitors’ hopes alive for adding a few more runs on the second morning. Mohammed Siraj was keeping Rahul company, yet to open his account off 10 balls/After Temba Bavuma won the toss and elected to bowl first in the first of the two Tests in which India gave Prasidh Krishna his debut while the hosts gave first caps to Nandre Burger and David Bedingham, Rabada struck the first blow for South Africa.
Batting first after rain delayed the start of the match, skipper Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal opened the Indian inning. Yashasvi went off to a flying start with a boundary with a flick off his pads.Both Rabada and Marco Jansen bowled with appreciable seam movement. There was an LBW shout against Rohit in the third over where the ball behaved like an off-break, pitching full outside off and jagging so far past the bat that it would have missed the stumps in the end.
Rabada with his accurate line and length tested Rohit with a sharp bouncer as India lost their captain in the fifth over to a short ball that he pulled to one of the only two men on the boundary, at long leg. Rohit scored 5 off 14 deliveries.
The Indian batters left more than half (33) of the first 60 balls. That’s largely because 48 of them were on the shorter side which would not hit the stumps, even if they were bowled at the stumps. But debutant Nandre Burger, with different plans, pitched one up and got the big wicket of Jaiswal. Jaiswal, who edged behind keeper Kyle Verreynne, departed after scoring 17 off 37 deliveries.The Jaiswal wicket came off only the 10th ball that SA pitched up in the first 10 overs.
Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer both were dropped on either side of the drinks break, and the duo made the most of their lives. Iyer was let off by Jansen at point, Kohli by de Zorzi at square leg. Iyer had looked to swing free while Kohli has been a lot more classical with his stroke-making.Starting at 91/3 after lunch, India lost their way again as Shreyas Iyer fell in the first over after restart.
Rabada made the breakthrough with a full inswinger that landed on a patch and kept low, took the inside edge to crash into the stumps, ending Iyer’s 50-ball vigil for 31 runs. (IANS)
