New Delhi: Indian cricket team's red-ball skipper Virat Kohli batted with loads of grit and patience today but missed out on scoring a well-deserved ton as the battle of the titans was won by Kagiso Rabada who got the skipper out for 79 runs off 201 balls. A top-class knock from 'King Kohli' pushed the Indian team to 223/10 against South Africa on day 1 of Ind vs SA 3rd Test at Cape Town.
After India were bowled out for 223, India's star pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah bowled a cracker of a delivery to stun Proteas skipper Dean Elgar, dismiss him for 3 to leave South Africa reeling at the end of Day's play. At stumps on Day 1, South Africa were restricted to 17/1, trailing India by 206 runs.
India's batting lineup crumbled in front of the South African pace trio of Rabada (4 wickets), Duanne Olivier and Marco Jansen (3 wickets). It was quite disappointing to see that the Indian batters failed to score a 300-plus total against the inexperienced bowlers of South Africa.
Team India opted to bat first after winning the toss. The visitors got off to a bad start as openers Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul returned to the pavilion without any significant contribution.
Apart from Virat, Cheteshwar Pujara was another batter who contributed with some crucial runs as he got out for 43 after a half-century partnership with Kohli.
SA playing XI: Dean Elgar (c), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Duanne Olivier, Lungi Ngidi
IND playing XI: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav