By: Tarish Bhatt
The opening day of the Nagpur Test turned out to be pretty interesting, but at the end it was Team India, who seized the advantage and gained the upper hand when the stumps were called for the day.
First, Team India skipper Virat Kohli elected to bat first, his team posted a more than decent total on the board, and then later in the day spinner chipped in with a couple of wickets on a rank-turner.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja removed Stiaan van Zyl and nightwatchman Imran Tahir, respectively, to leave South Africa reeling at 11/2 at the end of day’s play.
Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja continued his good form and also played a gritty knock, much like the Mohali Test, and helped India post a 215 on a pitch that was turning right from the first session itself.
Ravindra Jadeja made a crucial 48-run partnership with Wriddhiman Saha for the seventh wickets to ensure that Team India would be having something competitive to put South Africa under pressure.
Earlier in the day, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan provided India a solid start, as they stitched 50 runs for the opening wicket, but South Africa struck back with a couple of quick wickets in the first session.
Morne Morkel, in the absence of Dale Steyn, bowled beautifully and picked three wickets, while spinner Simon Harmer was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets.
South Africa maintained good pressure on India throughout the innings, but innings from Murali Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja and Wriddhiman Saha helped India post something competitive.
And, later in the final eight overs of the day, Indian spinners showed how tough it is going to be for South Africa in remaining days of the Test match.
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