Cape Town: India skipper Virat Kohli was a picture of patience and perseverance in his well-crafted 79 (201b, 12×4, 1×6). However, in spite of Kohli’s knock South Africa gained the upper hand by bowling out the visitors for an underwhelming 223 on day one of the series-deciding third and final Test here Tuesday. Reaching 141 for four at tea, India looked good for a 250 plus first innings score before losing six wickets for 82 runs in the final session. In reply South Africa were 17 for 1 at stumps losing the wicket of skipper Dean Elgar (4)
Kohli worked extremely hard for his first half century of the series but eventually ran out of partners. Cheteshwar Pujara (43, 77b, 7×4) was the other batter who came with up a good contribution.
South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada (4/73), playing his 50th Test, was the standout bowler of the day. Tall left-arm pacer Marco Jansen (3/55) supported Rabada well.
Earlier, Rabada and Virat Kohli were engaged in a fascinating battle throughout the day before the South African removed the opposition captain who was looking for boundaries towards the end of the innings.
The hallmark of Kohli’s special knock was how he dealt with balls in the off-stump channel. This was a matter of concern for him heading into the series-decider. What was remarkable was that Kohli did not shy away from playing those glorious drives he is known for. He just picked the right balls to go for his strokes and did not play recklessly around the off-stump.
Kohli took 15 balls to get off the mark. He got going with an expansive cover drive off Jansen and got his second slowest fifty with a sublime straight drive. However, for the major part of his innings, Kohli was all grit and gumption as South African bowlers, especially Rabada, kept attacking the off-stump corridor in favourable conditions.
Rishabh Pant (27) was the first to be dismissed in the final session as he tried to cut a ball too close to his body and ended up giving a simple catch to gully. Jansen had Ashwin (2) caught behind by getting one to angle away and Shardul Thakur (12) was caught at short cover for spinner Keshav Maharaj’s first wicket of the series.
In the afternoon session that yielded 66 runs, Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane (9 off 12 balls) were dismissed. Pujara once again showed positive intent but was undone by a beauty from Jansen that angled in from round the wicket and straightened just enough to take the outside edge.
Rahane, who has shown sublime touch all through the series but has not been able to convert the starts, was caught behind after Rabada got one to straighten from good length.
Brief scores: India 223 (Virat Kohli 79, Cheteshwar Pujara 43, Kagiso Rabada 4/73, Marco Jansen (3/55); South Africa 17 for 1. Match to continue.