New Delhi: South African pacers wreaked havoc on the opening day of the third test match to bowl India out for 187 at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
At the end of day’s play, South Africa were 6/1, trailing India by 181 runs.
For the visitors, skipper Virat Kohli made a fighting 54 while Cheteshwar Pujara played gritty 50-run knock in “tough conditions.”
South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada was the most impressive amongst the lot as he returned with 3/39 while Morkel, Phehlukwayo and Philander clinched 2 each and Lungi Ngidi added his name to the wicket’s column by scalping the most crucial wicket of the day (Virat Kohli’s).
It was another bad day at work for the Indian batsmen as the visitors lost six wickets in the final session of the day
However, according to Indian top-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, it is one of toughest conditions he has ever played in and believes 187 is as good as 300.
“It is as good as scoring 300 on a normal pitch. It is certainly one of the toughest pitches I have batted on. It was much tougher than one used for the first Test in Cape Town," Pujara told host broadcaster SuperSport.
"Overall we batted well. The runs on the board are sufficient and we can bowl them out. There was a lot of deviation and the pitch was initially very slow, but there was enough bounce. There was a lot of lateral movement and a lot of deviation of the cracks," added the 29-year-old.