South Africa have begun decently on a sporting challenging track at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The openers Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton gave South Africa a flying start before Jasprit Bumrah removed both the openers with great deliveries. Kuldeep Yadav removed captain Temba Bavuma but the duo of Wiaan Mulder and Tony de Zorzi have done well to take South Africa to 105/3 in 27 overs and the Proteas have their noses in front at this stage.
Jasprit Bumrah strikes twice after South Africa get off to a racing start.Â
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton came out to bat for South Africa while Jasprit Bumrah had ball in hand for India. Bumrah gifted 4 byes to the batting side with the ball not bouncing to the keeper. Mohammed Siraj had ball in hand from the other end and started with a quiet over. Bumrah continued and kept things tight.
Rickelton got the first boundary of the bat away as he stood tall and got on top of the bounce and used his wrists to stroke along the ground for a boundary to point. Rickelton then drove him down the ground past mid-off for a boundary. Markram continued to struggle in the early exchanges. Bumrah continued and bowled another quiet over.
Siraj continued to leak runs as Rickelton rocked back to the short ball and slapped it away through the point region for a boundary. Markram finally got off the mark with a boundary back past the bowler and then he played the cover drive through cover and point region. Bumrah continued and bowled another miserly over.
Axar Patel came into the attack replacing Siraj. Markram took him on as he opened the bat face and punched it fine past backward point for a boundary. Markram then drove Axar through extra cover where Jaiswal misfielded and allowed the ball to go to the ropes. Bumrah continued as Rickelton hit him for a boundary by throwing his hands at it and got the outside edge past gully to the fence.
Axar continued and gave away 4 byes to the batting side. The 50-run stand came up between the two players and for the team as well. Markram took on Axar as he stepped down the track and lifted the back leg and stylishly flicked it over midwicket for the maximum. South Africa reached 57/0 in 10 overs. Bumrah continued and he provided the breakthrough for India removing Rickelton for 23 off 22 balls with 4 fours to his name.
Bumrah bowled a good length delivery angled back into the off-stump and shaped away beautifully. Rickelton was playing from the crease and tried to negotiate the angle that Bumrah was creating from around the wicket. The ball beat him past the outside edge and hit the off-stump. Wiaan Mulder came out to bat next. Axar continued as Markram got to the pitch of the ball on the front foot and drove it delightfully past diving Jaiswal at extra cover for a boundary.
Bumrah got another as he removed the other opener Markram for 31 off 48 balls with 5 fours and one six to his name. Bumrah from over the wicket bowled a hard length outside off-stump angling into the batter. Markram was forced to play at that and he failed to counter the extra bounce that Bumrah generated. He fended at that with hard hands away from the body and the ball kissed the outside edge of the shoulder of his bat and went low to the right of Pant who moved well to dive full length to take a good catch. Captain Temba Bavuma came out to bat next.
Bumrah bowled another probing over. Kuldeep Yadav came onto bowl the final over before Drinks. Mulder reverse swept him over backward point for a boundary. At the completion of 14 overs, South Africa were 66/2 when we all paused for the Drinks Break.
Kuldeep removed Bavuma; Mulder & de Zorzi steadies things and puts South Africa in the ascendancy.Â
Mohammed Siraj came back into the attack post the break and bowled a decent over. Kuldeep continued and he got rid of the captain Bavuma for 3 off 11 balls. Kuldeep bowled full and on the leg stump that turned in. Bavuma lunged forward and looked to defend as the ball took the inside edge of the bat and went straight into the hands of Dhruv Jurel at backward short leg who stayed low and kept his eyes on the ball to complete a sharp catch. Tony de Zorzi came out to bat next.
Siraj continued as Mulder drove him sweetly between mid-off and extra cover for a boundary. Kuldeep continued as Mulder drove him crisply through sweeper cover for a boundary. Siraj continued and bowled a better tight over. Kuldeep too kept things tight as South Africa were 86/3 in 20 overs. Ravindra Jadeja was introduced into the attack next. He started his spell with a probing over.
Kuldeep continued as de Zorzi broke the shackles by stepping down and launched it over long-off for the maximum. Jadeja bowled another decent over. Kuldeep also bowled a tight over. Jadeja continued as the 100 came up for South Africa in 24.3 overs. Kuldeep continued and bowled another good over. Washington Sundar was introduced into the attack to bowl the final over before Lunch. He too started his spell well on the right note. South Africa reached 105/3 in 27 overs when the players left the field for Lunch.
Six bowlers used by India with Jasprit Bumrah being the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/9 in 7 overs. Kuldeep Yadav bowled well for his 1/24 in 7 overs. Siraj looked off-colour while Axar was expensive. Jadeja and Sundar have started things off by keeping things tight. Both teams will be happy with the position at Lunch time.
What Lies Ahead in the Afternoon Session.Â
South Africa will be relatively pleased to get to 105 runs in the morning session after winning the toss while India after losing the toss have done well to get 3 wickets. The pitch is playing tricks and we have had a hard battle in this Test match so far. Afternoon session will be crucial for both teams with South Africa aiming to build more while India aims to make further inroads. This game is nicely poised at this stage.
So, an intriguing second session is coming our way. Let’s see how things unfold in the afternoon.
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