It was a made-to-order pitch that had been delivered perfectly for India, who went in with three spinners and the extra batsman in Rohit Sharma, a deviance from Virat Kohli’s preferred strategy of five bowlers.
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With Morne Morkel a magnificent spearhead the Castle Lager Proteas found a useful ally in early reverse swing to bowl India out for 215 on the opening day of the third Freedom Series Test match at Nagpur on Wednesday.
Morkel then saw off Ajinkya Rahane for 13, removing his off stump with another terrific delivery, and in his next over dismissed Virat Kohli (22), inducing an outside edge from the India captain which was snapped up by wicketkeeper Dane Vilas. Ravichandran Ashwin has taken his wicket in all four innings in the series.
But the loss of both the batsmen in the second hour before lunch followed by a dramatic collapse after the break left the hosts, who are leading 1-0 in the series, at a hard 125 for 6. Among Test openers with at least 50 dismissals, Vijay lbw dismissal percentage of 28.07% (16/57) is the third highest after Darren Ganga (22/64, 34.38%) and Shane Watson (16/50, 32.00%). His wicket was vital, as he had 150 runs from his three previous innings in the low-scoring series.
In the morning the home team lost Vijay and Dhawan to adjourn to the interval at 85 for 2.
Amla s own poor form with the bat will worry the tourists after he made 43 and 0 in the first Test and seven in the rain-ruined second game in Bangalore.
“Our top-order (batsmen) are quality players of spin”.
India’s Ravindra Jadeja (C) is congratulated by his teammates after taking the wicket of South Africa’s Imran Tahir (unseen) during the first day of their third test cricket match in Nagpur, India, November 25, 2015.
He was well supported by Kagiso Rabada, who may have only got one wicket but conceded less than two runs to the over which was exactly what his captain, Hashim Amla, needed from him.
Spinners Imran Tahir and Simon Harmer took part in an intense net session on Sunday, giving an impression that South Africa might opt for a two-spin attack again.
Barring the odd wicket to the medium pacers or to a run-out, the Indian spinners have done the bulk of the damage against a side which has played them with a lot of concern and suspicion.
South Africa selected Simon Harmer for Kyle Abbott while Dale Steyn remained on the sidelines.
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India’s last four wickets added 90 runs to pull them out of a deep hole. When Dhawan tried a similar shot against Elgar, he only managed to spoon it back to the bowler. When Amla’s men take the field on Wednesday, it will be only their fifth day of global cricket over the past month, leaving them short of serious match practice.
