Batsmen from both sides clearly struggled to deal with the copious turn and unpredictable bounce right from the first day of both Tests.
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Cape Town – Proteas off-spinner, Dane Piedt, has credited his experience from the South Africa A tour of India in August for the confidence in his performance for the Proteas in the opening day of the fourth Test match against India at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi on Thursday.
Ajinkya Rahane came back into form with a well-fought unbeaten 89 as India profited from a couple of dropped catches by South Africa to finish the first day of the fourth Test at Delhi at 231/7.
“I regard him with the best players in the world, so going up against him in every nets session really tests my skill and only makes me a better bowler”.
Bowling intelligently, Piedt excelled with his precision and control.
Despite spending one-and-a-half hours in the middle, Murali Vijay was in distinct discomfort due to the variable bounce. Vijay played a causal looking shot off offie Dane Piedt. Drawn to play a shot, the opener edged it to Amla as the ball travelled straight.
At lunch India scored 326 runs for the loss of 8 wickets.
“We tried to prepare for the series as best as possible”.
After successive deliveries that were angled into him turned away, Piedt tossed up an arm ball that held its line. Seven balls later, Kyle Abbott pierced through a bat-pad gap offered by Cheteshwar Pujara (14), thus rattling his woodwork to send him packing.
However, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane steadied the boat.
Fans booking corporate hospitality for next summer’s Kia Oval Test between England and Pakistan will hope home advantage works the opposite way, although supporters can be sure they will be very unlikely to see an excessively bowler-friendly pitch. Surprising because Rahane has been one of the most prolific batsmen in Indian domestic circuit. The duo added 70 runs for the fourth wicket in 17 overs when a freak dismissal broke the partnership. Piedt continued with the same intensity he showed early in the day and bowled to the left-handed Dhawan from round the stumps. For a change, Kohli was caught “forward” by the wicketkeeper. A whip off the back-foot off Piedt also raced to boundary. Let off by Amla on 78, Rahane emerged the confident batsman he is known to be.
After losing five wickets in the session, India were placed at 139 for six but after tea, a carefully crafted 59-run stand between Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja (24) rescued them.
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Imran Tahir’s profligacy and inconsistency was offset by the persistence, steely discipline and eventual success of some new entrants in the lineup – the offspinner Dan Piedt (4 for 101 off 34) and the metronomic pacer Kyle Abbott (3 for 23), who between them bowled 42.84 percent of the 84 overs possible on the day.
