End of Day 1
The hosts have managed to reach 6 at the loss of 1 wicket.
Bhuvneshwar gets India an early breakthrough!
Just the start India wanted! Markram tries to defend but gets a faint nick behind. Patel moves towards his right and takes an easy catch
Can India defend 187? Lets find out!
That's it! Indian innings comes to an end
That's the final nail in the coffin! Bhuvneshwar pulls one towards the short mid-wicket but Phhlukwayo backtracks and takes fine catch
Rabada again
Rabada steams in and attacks the stumps with a full ball. Sharma attempts to push it down the ground with zero footwork but gets an outside edge that flies towards second slip. Faf du Plessis stationed there dives in front and takes a smart catch.
Rabada strikes to dismiss Shami
Landed outside off, Shami is in no mood to defend and just throws his bat at that. But his bottom hand comes off the willow and the ball goes off the toe end, high in the air. Simple catch to Kagiso Rabada at mid off
3 wickets in 3 overs for South Africa
Another silly mistake from Hardik Pandya. The 25-year-old tries to pull but ends up getting a top edge, ball goes straight up in the air and de Kock runs behind, keeping his eyes on the ball and collects it comfortably
Morkel gets Parthiv caught behind
India in deep trouble as they lose their 6th wicket. Parthiv Patel leaps and tries to punch the ball but gets comfortably beaten by an extra bounce. Only manages to get a thick nick and De Kock gobbles it easily.
Edge and taken!
Fifty for Pujara
Day 1, session 3..
That's it from the second session!
India reach 114/4 at tea on day 1 in Johannesburg
Morne strikes!
Morkel has Rahane trapped in front. The umpire is pretty convinced as he raises his finger. Rahane opts to review the decision but no luck, he has to walk back
Rahane survives!
NO BALL! Rahane edges one to the keeper and starts walking even before the umpire raises his finger. Aleem Darr asks Rahane to wait and review shows Philander has nothing behind the line, the foot has landed right on the crease. Rahane gets a lifeline
Ajinkya Rahane is the new man in
Virat departs
Ngidi gets his man, Virat Kohli decides to chase the ball and hands it to AB de Villiers. India lose their third wicket. IND 97/3
16th Test fifty
Dropped on 11 and 32, Indian skipper Virat Kohli makes the most of those lifelines as he completes his 16th Test fifty. India 94/2
Kohli dropped again!
Kohli tries to reach out to a wide delivery and tries to cut it but only gets bottom of the bat as ball flies to AB de Viliers in the third slip but South Africa’s Number 1 fielder gives Kohli another lifeline
Players are back in the middle. Kohli and Pujara to take the visitors forward while Vernon Philander to start proceeding with the ball for South Africa
Day 1 Session 2..
That's lunch on Day 1, Kohli and Pujara have somehow managed to drag India to 45 for 2.
54 balls for 1 run
There is the first run for Pujara in his 54th ball, huge cheer at the Wanderers and the broad smile on his face tells he thoroughly enjoyed it
Philander drops Kohli
Huge huge moment in the game, Vernon Philander DROPS Virat Kohli on 11. Rabada is livid, and why shouldn't he be, there was perhaps no need to dive. Kohli tired to break the shackles with an expansive pull shot but ends up getting a top edge, Philander runs towards the ball, gets both hands to it but it pops out. India 27/2
Half-century for Pujara, but wait...
Pujara yet to get off the mark
Meanwhie, Cheteshwar Pujara has faced 37 balls and is yet to score his first run. Can't blame him much though, the bowling has been such relentless this morning. May be he would give his captain at the other end a stern look. Overnight rains, green pitch, was it really necessary to bat first after winning the toss?
Vijay departs
Loose! very loose from India's most trusted opening batsman. He chases a wide one from Rabada and if you do that at the first morning of Day 1 at Johannesburg, you simply can't get away with it. Vijay didn't too, the ball takes the faint outside egde of his bat and de Kock happily accepts it behind the stumps. South Africa have proved Kohli's decision to bat first a wrong one very early.
Umpire's call to the rescue
Pitched oin line, impact in line but wickets clipping. Ian Gould confidently cancels South Africa's review. The umprie's call saves Cheteshwar Pujara, India breathe easy.
That's close! That has to be close! Umpire Gould shakes his head, Philander runs up to captain du Plessis and he immediately signals for review. That's a Philander special, bringing the ball back in from the same line and lenghth, from where he takes it the other way. Pujara's tentative footwork doesn't help much, the ball thuds onto his front pad.
Rahul out for a duck!
Oh no! Not the start India would have wanted, exactly the opposite reaction in South African camp. Philander brings one back in to find the inside edge of Rahul's bat, de Kock dives to his left and collects the catch cleanely. Gone for a DUCK. IND: 7/1
All set for the action. Murali Vijay and KL Rahul have see off the new ball, it sure won't be easy.
India (Playing XI) for 3rd Test: M Vijay, L Rahul, C Pujara, V Kohli (C), A Rahane, H Pandya, P Patel, B Kumar, M Shami, I Sharma, J Bumrah
South Africa (Playing XI) for 3rd Test: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Vernon Philander, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Lungisani Ngidi.
Toss: Virat finally wins one toss and there you go, he opts to bat first. The big news is India have dropped Ashwin, so they are going in with five fast bowling options. When did that happen last time? Sure would need to search some stats for that. While we do that take a look at the changes India have made.
Pitch Report: Yes, it is green. Like we all expected. Sunil Gavaskar tells us captain winning the toss should opt to bat but play an extra batter.
Rain alert: Our Correspondent Kuntal Chakraborty tells us there has been heavy overnight rains at Johannesburg but thankfully for the viewers, the sun has come out in full monty today morning. But Kuntal tells us the rain may return to cause a few stoppages throughout the day.
Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the third and final Test of what has been a rather indifferent series for India.
The prelude
In his tenure of a little over three year as India’s Test captain, Virat Kohli has his back pushed against wall for the first time. Not only is India facing its first ever whitewash threat in South Africa, where they came with their ‘strongest’ ever team, question marks have also been raised over Kohli’s captaincy with former captains like Graeme Smith terming him not good enough to lead India for a long time.
Under these not so favorable circumstances, India have the daunting task of keeping the fire-breathing South African fast bowlers at bay at the most challenging pitch, at least at first sight in Johannesburg.
However, not everything is gloomy for Virat & Co. India have some very fod memories of Johannesburg. They are yet to lose a Test match in this venue, the only in South Africa where India have not tasted defeat. Among the four Tests, India have drawn three and got the better of South Africa once in 2006, where Sressanth and Zaheer Khan tormented the hosts to snatch a famous win.
As per the team news, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will get a game but that’s about it about India’s playing XI. Going by Kohli’s choice of players in the series a string of changes should not be ruled out.