(Cricket news) The boxing day test was a quick finish but the Cape Town encounter is heading towards an even shorter game, probably a 2 day finish as India took control of the opening day which saw the fall of 23 wickets on a difficult pitch to bat on. Mohammed Siraj’s exceptional spell of seam bowling (6-15 in 9 overs) was the highlight of Day 1 as the pacer picked all his wickets in his opening burst to rattle South Africa crashing down to 55 all out in the very first session of the test match.

Dean Elgar , the South African skipper who is playing his last international game opted to bat, expecting the surface to worsen as the game moves on and to make use of the beautiful sunny morning in Capetwon, but much to his disappointment the South African team went down like nine pins. Siraj led the Indian attack producing a beauty to dismiss Aiden Markram before getting Elgar to chop one on to the stumps.

The South Africans were unable to deal with the lethal bowling from the Indian pace attack, the frequency of India’s bowlers led by Siraj getting it right was far too often and the hosts had no answers. Only two South african batters managed to get to double figures in what was a sorry batting display from the Proteas. Siraj was unplayable for most parts.

India in their first innings understood that survival was a game of chance and started off with high intensity. After Yashasvi Jaiswal’s early dismissal skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubhman Gill both got off to quick starts but none of them were able to capitalize.

Virat Kohli started off in streaky fashion as he edged one between the slips and the gully for four but he soon found his groove with some classic Kohli shots including a ravishing pull against Kagiso Rabada being the pick of the lot. While the scoring rate for the Indians was good, South Africa stayed in the hunt during the second session with Nandre Burger bowling an exceptional spell to strike thrice. Those quick breakthroughs ensured that India weren’t running away with the game.

At the end of 33 overs, India were 153/4 with Kohli set and KL Rahul trying get into the groove, but what followed was nothing short of a brain fade from the Indians. India were bowled out in a span a just 11 deliveries without scoring even a single run, with Lungi Ngidi bowling a 3 wicket maiden and Rabada wrapping things up for. Ngidi bowled way below his best for a major part of the innings but sprung to life with a magical spell (3-30) to stun India

However, the lead of 98 meant that South Africa had a mountain to climb on a surface which has not been to friendly to the batters. Elgar and Markram started off steadily in the 2nd innings but the Elgar’s dismissal in his final innings for South Africa allowed India to add a couple of strikes late in the day. Mukesh Kumar bowled superbly for the visitors while Jasprit Bumrah was his usual menacing self.

With a deficit of 36 runs and seven wickets left, the South Africans will hope for a better batting display from the remaining batters. Four full days still remain in the 2nd Test and it’ll be interesting to see if the game will stretch into the 3rd Day.

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