Kagiso Rabada, Wanderers, 3rd Test, Cheteshwar Pujara, Lungi Ngidi
Lungi Ngidi picked the prized wicket of Virat Kohli to see his parents delighted at Wanderers. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

At stumps on day one of the third and final Test of the Sunfoil Test series at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, South African post six for one in six overs after India’s first innings total was folded at 187 in 76.4 overs.

The lateral movement on the surface has been the highlight of the day.

Earlier, India won the toss and elected to bat first with two changes in the playing XI after the inclusion of Ajinkya Rahane, who came at the expense of Rohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar saw Ravichandran Ashwin being benched.

At Wanderers was Cheteshwar Pujara as patient as the tortoise in the fable with the rabbit?

  • South African fielders missed too many
  • Bhuvneshwar Kumar fought with the bat
  • Cheteshwar Pujara has gone into the shell
  • Middle-order collapse
  • Kohli’s on-field swearing found a space on placard

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[swnav] SA vs. IND, 2018: Five Talking Points – Navigation Wanderers Test

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Talking Points of the day one at Wanderers Stadium:

Wanderers wonder pitch saw Virat Kohli being dropped twice for his fifty:

Virat Kohli, who has been at his best business once again, however, has further been shaky in the middle which further saw him smashing his 16th Test fifty.

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When the 29-year-old batting mainstay was batting at 11 and on the very first delivery of 21st over, Kohli was put down by Vernon Philander at wide mid-off after getting the toe-end of the bat when he attempted for a pull to make most of the short-pitched delivery of speedster Kagiso Rabada.

Moreover, the prominent bowler Rabada was livid before swearing as Kohli had a laugh on an offer for the reprieve.

Interestingly, Kohli, who was later caught by fantastic fielder AB de Villiers, was dropped by the later when Kohli was batting on 72 off 72 balls.

On the first ball of 33rd over, Kohli had luck when he was grassed by de Villiers which is rare when it comes to witness the acrobatic fielder.

The ball was outside off of the Morne Morkel and Kohli chased it away to get the thick bottom edge to see de Villiers goes for the catch too early when the catch came around his knee roll.

Slow and steady Cheteshwar Pujara:

With the soft hands, Cheteshwar Pujara, who batted for little over four hours brought up his first run on 53rd delivery and his story, has been more about shouldering the arms on a lively Bidvest Wanderers surface.

The 30-year-old Rajkot-based Pujara faced the marathon of 179 balls for his hard-earned fifty.

However, Pujara played some delightful strokes in his half-century which saw him smashing eight fifties while scoring at the strike-rate of 27.93.

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Pujara, who was dismissed by the replacement of Keshav Maharaj, Andile Phehlukwayo was further hesitant to scamper between the wickets after being dismissed twice on run-out in Centurion.

As the Proteas bowlers kept on targeting Pujara on the outside off channel, Pujara made the habit of leaving alone the ball which further saw him registering 84 runs for the third wicket alongside skipper Virat Kohli.

AB de Villiers off his feet and Lungi Ngidi’s family on their feet:

Virat Kohli, who was dismissed by Lungi Ngidi on 54 off 106 deliveries, saw AB de Villiers claiming a stunner in the slip region at the third slip which further took the batting star by surprise before the hosts’ skipper Faf du Plessis and opening batsman Dean Elgar congratulated the livewire on the field.

The incident happened in the 43rd over when Ngidi kept the ball on the outside off channel to see Kohli aiming to score runs on the outside off while extending his arm for the drive.

The lateral movement of the ball saw the thick edge flying to the slips cordon when de Villiers was caught by surprise as the ball came at an awkward height which took the fielder off the feet while completing the

Kohli batted for 146 minutes which saw his innings was comprised of nine fours at the strike-rate of 50.94.

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Interesting, the 21-year-old Ngidi, who is playing his second Test further waved at his parents, who rose from the respective seats to cherish the prized scalp to make it the treasure trove of memories.

India lost three at the 144.

When India seemed to have tried to build up an innings, the visitors further lost the plot when they were 144 for four in 61.3 overs.

However, what unfolded was miserable for the visiting side.

India lost three crucial wickets at 144 in the space of three overs.

Firstly, it was Pujara, who was caught by gloveman Quinton de Kock, before Parthiv Patel saw the ball settled into the gloves of de Kock on the bowling of Morne Morkel.

Hardik Pandya was caught on nought off five balls when de Kock completed a catch on the bowling of Phehlukwayo

South African bowlers delivered:

On a seamer-friendly surface, the four-pronged bowling attack has delivered according to the expectation as India kept losing wickets at the regular intervals.

Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers with three for 39 in 18.4 overs, as all five bowlers were among the wickets including bowling all-rounder Phehlukwayo.

The hosts’ bowlers made well use of the conditions early on Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander bagged wicket apiece, as Ngidi settled with the solitary wicket of batsman Kohli.

Follow India’s tour to the South Africa: RSA Vs IND, 2018

Tahir Ibn Manzoor is the Editor-In-Chief at Cricket Addictor, who follows cricket like food and he has a great affection for the long-form journalism. He has been associated with the organisation since...