Day 1: Sa vs India - First Sunfoil Test at Wanderers - Report

When you look at the scorecard from Day 1 of this first test between South Africa and India, it seems as if it was a very evenly balanced day. The South African bowlers did not, apart from during the first spell of the day before lunch, manage to assert themselves as much as were expected by many. The day, according to me, belonged to Virat Kohli, who made a very patient and vital century for his team.

Kohli's 119 came off a patient 257 balls and he anchored the Indian innings for most of the day, until he threw his wicket away with a badly timed shot off Kallis. Morne Morkel was probably the pick of the Proteas bowlers and especially his first spell was electrifying, when he hit that perfect short-of-good-length spot almost with every delivery. The Indian batsmen had no answer to these Morkel deliveries and he was unlucky not to pick up more than just the one wicket. Dale Steyn showed at times why he is the number one test bowler right now, but it seemed as if he was repeatedly trying to bowl to fast, as his line was not that accurate.

 

Day 2 is going to be interesting and it will be crucial for both sides to stamp a bit of authority on the game one way or another, because it is all pretty much even-Stevens right now...!

India 255/5 (90.0 ov)

South Africa

India won the toss and elected to bat

Stumps - Day 1

• India in South Africa Test Series - 1st Test
• Test no. 2108 | 2013/14 season
• Played at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
• 18,19,20,21,22 December 2013 (5-day match)

	India 1st innings		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	M Vijay	c †de Villiers b Morkel	6	69	42	1	0	14.28
	S Dhawan	c Imran Tahir b Steyn	13	37	27	2	0	48.14
	CA Pujara	run out (Imran Tahir/Amla)	25	148	98	2	0	25.51
	V Kohli	c Duminy b Kallis	119	257	181	18	0	65.74
	RG Sharma	c †de Villiers b Philander	14	48	42	1	0	33.33
	AM Rahane	not out	43		105	7	0	40.95
	MS Dhoni*†	not out	17		46	3	0	36.95
	Extras	(lb 3, w 14, nb 1)	18
	Total	(5 wickets; 90 overs)	255	(2.83 runs per over)

To bat R Ashwin, I Sharma, Z Khan, Mohammed Shami

Fall of wickets 1-17 (Dhawan, 8.6 ov), 2-24 (Vijay, 15.1 ov), 3-113 (Pujara, 42.4 ov), 4-151 (RG Sharma, 53.2 ov),5-219 (Kohli, 75.3 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	DW Steyn	23	5	56	1	2.43	(2w)
	VD Philander	21	2	55	1	2.61
	M Morkel	19	10	27	1	1.42	(1nb, 2w)
	JH Kallis	14	4	37	1	2.64	(2w)
	Imran Tahir	8	0	47	0	5.87
	JP Duminy	5	0	30	0	6.00