That game will be followed by a second Test in Pretoria from August 27.
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He is back for South Africa after being dropped for the previous Test against England in January.
Steyn strained a groin in the first innings of the Mohali match and did not bowl in the second innings.
New Zealand have never won. They started the “Williamson era” with a 2-0 series win over Zimbabwe earlier this month, but the new skipper knows his team will be judged on what they’re able to achieve against more competitive opposition.
South Africa was 94 for two at lunch after deciding to bat in overcast conditions, with the floodlights on for most of the morning.
Wagner, 30, who left South Africa to play provincial cricket in New Zealand a decade ago, took the wickets of JP Duminy, stand-in captain Faf du Plessis and swashbuckling Quinton de Kock to give the visitors the upper hand. De Villiers’ loss is a massive one for the Proteas as they look to regain form and confidence in the Test arena.
Kagiso Rabada (14 not out) and Dale Steyn (2 no) survived to stumps after Vernon Philander fell for eight, but all three will have designs on making an impact with the new ball when the tourists come to bat on day two.
Sky Sport 3 will air the first and last day of the second Test in Centurion, with Sky Sport 1 airing the second, third and fourth.
The Kiwis had the hosts 236-8 when bad light stopped play after 77.4 overs at Kingsmead, reward for a disciplined bowling display assisted by several examples of the below-par batting that have become all too familiar for South Africa during their slippery slide to seventh in the world rankings.
Sodhi joins Mark Craig and Mitchell Santner to provide the Black Caps with three frontline spin options.
For South Africa, seamers Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn returned after lengthy injury spells and will provide a potentially fearsome seam attack along with Kagiso Rabada.
New Zealand will have to decide whether to use two spinners to back up the pace trio of Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner.
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Fox Sports has coverage of the Test series, starting at 6pm AEDT on Friday, August 19 on Fox Sports 5.
