Virat Kohli’s first home test as the Indian skipper also happened to coincide with his 27th birthday. What’s more, he won the toss and elected to bat first.
The occasion was there, the stage was set for a big hit from the young man- only his bat failed him, and so did most of the Indian batting order.
Shikhar Dhawan’s horrid run against South Africa continued as the opener lasted just an over and a half in the middle before falling for a duck to Philander. Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara (31) steadied the boat with a 63-run stand only to see the bowlers strike back.
South African left-arm part-time spinner Dean Elgar turned out to be the unlikely hero with impressive figures of 4-22 that spun a web against an Indian line-up that failed to show application in mostly overcast conditions on a slow and low wicket.
Murali Vijay finished as the top run scorer at 75 with Ashwin (20 not out) and Jadeja’s (38) valuable 42-run eight-wicket partnership also responsible in putting together the 201-run target.
Virat Kohli got out for a solitary duck.
.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
The Indian spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja though pulled back things a little bit by picking up two wickets before stumps.
Ashwin got the breakthrough, sending back Stiaan van Zyl for five and Faf du Plessis, playing his first test in India, was knocked off by Jadeja in his comeback match.
South Africa ended the day at 28/2, trailing India by 172 runs.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)