India tame resilient South Africa; go up 1-0 in the series

The scorecard would suggest that India had no ado whatsoever in braving the touring Proteas in the curtain-raiser as they put up a clinical all-round display to derail the visitors, surging ahead 1-0 in the series. However, if you delve a bit deeper than the surface, there is a lot more than meets the eye.

Rohit Sharma won an important toss on a surface that had its own demons and the Indian bowlers rode high on the fire to blaze through the opening half of the South African pecking order in the flash of an eye.

Deepak Chahar was the first one to strike as he produced a marauding inswinger to get hold of the South African captain for a duck, cannoning through his defences. If Chahar’s blow to Bavuma was just a peal of admonition about the imminent doom, Arshdeep unleashed the deluge that swept the visitors off their feet.

The young left-arm seamer’s first victim was an experienced Quinton de Kock who played onto his own stumps. Following suit, Rilee Rossouw embarked upon a long walk back to the pavilion after nicking an outswinger from Arshdeep to Pant.

If Rossouw and de Kock’s scalps deserved plaudits, then the props should have been reserved for the big wicket of Miller who was left helplessly rooted in the crease as a late wobble from Singh barreled past his defences and struck the tip of the middle stump.

Just when the South Africans were hoping that with the end of Arshdeep’s over, they would have some reprieve from the madness, Deepak Chahar dealt another blow, sending back Tristan Stubbs to the pavilion, thanks to a pint of extra bounce. A lunge of desperation from Wayne Parnell, Aiden Markram and Keshav Maharaj propelled South Africa beyond the three-figure mark and something to bowl at.

Much to India’s shock, it was a frenzied start at their end too as they lost skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in very short succession with bare minimum numbers on the board. Reeling at 17 for 2, KL Rahul was joined by the hero of the Australia series decider, Suryakumar Yadav, who weathered the storm early and was binding his time to deliver his payload.

Rahul steered the innings comfortably, keeping the climbing required rate in check while Suryakumar Yadav started unleashing his monstrosity, exuding the glimpse of a beast in the making. From inside outs to colossal flicks down the leg-side, it was a treat for sore eyes watching Yadav bat on a surface that left the batters bamboozled with the sheer angle of seam.

With these two in the middle, India crossed the finish line comfortably in the end, as KL Rahul launched Tabraiz Shamsi down the leg-side, also bringing up his half-century and administering the coup-de-grace to go 1-0 up in the series.

The second contest of this series is slated to be played on 2nd October at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati where Team India will be hoping to clinch the series.