South Africa vs India 2018, 1st Test: What went wrong for the visitors

One of the most anticipated series of 2018 started on a bright note as South Africa and India produced an exciting first Test. It was a low-scoring game, but both teams fancied their chances throughout the game.

South Africa were reduced to 12/3 but a counter-attack from AB de Villiers changed the course of the first innings to help South Africa post 286.

 

But Indian batsmen (the top order in particular) couldn’t stand up and India couldn’t capitalize with the bat and were 7 down below 100 runs in the first innings.

But with a target of 208 to get in the fourth innings after the bowlers managed to pull India back in the game, the visitors were in with a definite chance. But again, the top-order failed and India were bowled out for 135 and lost by 72 runs.

It was Vernon Philander, who took three wickets in the first innings and ran through the Indian middle order in the second, to bowl the Proteas to a victory and help them go 1-0 up in the 3-match series.

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South Africa vs India: Hosts in Command as Indian Top Order Crumbles

Cape Town: If beating the edge of the bat could get India points, Virat Kohli and boys would have scored 100 out of 100 on the report card at the end of the opening day’s play in the first Test of the series between India and South Africa at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town on Friday.

But it is picking the wickets that count on the scoreboard and that is where the visitors let the game drift and South Africa strengthened their hold on the game after reeling at 12/3 in the opening hour of the match.

The result at the end of day's play was South Africa sitting pretty on 286 in the first innings and India reeling at 28/3 after 11 overs with Cheteshwar Pujara (5) and Rohit Sharma (0) at the crease. The visitors still trail South Africa by 258 runs with seven wickets in hand and if the groundsmen are to be believed, the pace and carry will only get better on the second day. This clearly means that India have their task cut-out come Saturday.

Murali Vijay's (1) dismissal showed how the senior campaigner committed the cardinal sin of flaying outside the off-stump. With the ball from Vernon Philander pitching just outside off, Vijay went for the flashy drive and the ball went straight to Dean Elgar at gully.

Dale Steyn then got Shikhar Dhawan for just 16 as the latter tried to pull one off the tearaway pacer and only managed to top-edge it for Steyn to wait at the bowling crease and complete the easiest of catches he has ever got in international cricket.

Virat Kohli showed he has still not learnt from his horror run in England as he edged Morne Morkel to Quinton de Kock to go back for 5. That very line outside the off-stump that the Englishmen kept feeding Kohli has done the trick again in Newlands.

The old adage goes that morning shows the day. But unfortunately for the Indians that was definitely not the case. With South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis winning the toss and deciding to bat, it looked like the Indians were in for a toil. But Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked three wickets in quick succession to have the South Africans reeling at 12/3 after just 4.5 overs with Dean Elgar (0), Aiden Markram (5) and former skipper Hashim Amla (3) falling prey to the seam movement of Bhuvneshwar.

While Elgar and Amla edged to Wriddhiman Saha behind the wicket, Markram failed to get the bat down in time to stop one swinging in after pitching and thudding into is pads. The umpire had no hesitation in lifting the finger and sending the opener back. The packed crowd at Newlands wore a sombre look as Kohli kept pumping his fist.

But what the Indians seemed to have forgotten was the presence of two of the hosts’ best performers with bat in recent years – Faf and AB de Villiers. The two combined beautifully even as the Indian bowlers kept missing the edge of the batsmen. They showed excellent commitment and discipline in their approach in the first hour – a must in the longest format of the game. Even though they hardly middled anything with Bhuvneshwar and Mohammed Shami bowling a tight line, they refused to surrender.

The two stitched a 95-run partnership as the hosts went into lunch with the score on a dicey 107/3. The game could still go anywhere and the Indians had sniffed blood. Even though ABD had scored his 41st Test fifty, he still looked very cautious in his approach with the ball moving around. Faf was unbeaten on 37 at the break.

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Kohli masterclass prompts Tendulkar comparisons

 Indian great Sachin Tendulkar remains the gold standard of batting in the post-Bradman era but Virat Kohli's latest masterclass in Sunday's World Twenty20 shootout against Australia has prompted comparisons with his famous compatriot.

Not for the first time in the tournament, it took Kohli's masterly knock to get India across the line in a virtual quarter-final against the reigning 50-overs world champions.

Kohli remained unbeaten after a sublime 82, burnishing his reputation as arguably the best chaser in limited-overs cricket with a knock that reminded many of Tendulkar's 143 against Australia in a 1998 one-dayer at Sharjah dubbed "desert storm".

Shane Warne was at the receiving end of Tendulkar's wrath in that match and 18 years since the contest, the Australian spin great saw Tendulkar's shadow in Kohli's latest knock.

"Great knock by @imVkohli Reminded me of one of your many special innings buddy," Warne tweeted to his great rival Tendulkar after Kohli secured India a place in the semi-finals on Sunday.
Kohli bejewelled his knock with two sixes and nine boundaries and sprinted tirelessly between wickets in a flawless display of limited overs batting under tremendous pressure.

He middled every ball, timed his shots with surgical precision and found gaps with eerie regularity to stamp his class.

"Of the modern players, I've always thought that Brian Lara was the best placer of the ball," former Australia captain Ian Chappell told www.espncricinfo.com. "I think I have got Brian in second spot now."

LARA'S PRAISE

The West Indian batting great was also bowled over by what he saw and requested videos of Kohli's early days, hailing the Indian as the "best timer of a cricket ball" that he has seen.

At 27, Kohli stands on the brink of batting greatness with 36 international centuries against his name and averages of 44 in tests, 51 in one-dayers and 55 in Twenty20 matches.

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Magnificent Kohli Powers India Into Semi-Finals

India and Australia played out another epic in a rivalry that is gradually becoming one of the more fabled ones in the cricketing world. This contest, with a semi-final spot in the ICC World Twenty20 2016 at stake, was settled entirely by the incandescence of Virat Kohli, who added another chapter in his rapidly burgeoning masterclass of chases, at a vibrant PCA Stadium.

A capacity Sunday (March 27) crowd was on tenterhooks for much of India’s chase of Australia’s 160 for 6, built primarily on a sparkling opening stand between Usman Khawaja and Aaron Finch, though with Kohli in the middle, hope always sprang eternal. The India No. 3 did not disappoint, unfurling an innings of such magnificence, beauty and orthodoxy that he left even the Australians spellbound, and booked India a ticket to the March 31 semi-final at the Wankhede against West Indies.
Riding entirely on the back of Kohli’s undefeated 82 off just 51 deliveries with nine beautifully-timed fours and two towering sixes, India eventually won in a canter, by six wickets with five deliveries to spare. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who saw another crucial toss slip away as Steven Smith called right, landed the customary winning blow by spanking James Faulkner wide of mid-on as India hurtled to 161 for 4, but it was the Test captain who walked away with all the accolades.

Kohli is an excitable young man, so how he manages to control his emotions every time the ball is delivered is astonishing. In a wonderful display of awareness and spectacular shot making on a difficult surface once the ball lost its hardness, Kohli accelerated in dramatic style. His half-century, almost regulation in a chase, came off 39 deliveries, but he only took 12 more for the last 32 runs, smashing six fours and one six in that period to completely dominate the unfinished fifth-wicket stand of 67 off just 31 deliveries. Dhoni’s contribution to the stand was 18 – need one say more?

India came into the last five overs of its innings needing 59, having suffered another top-order disappointment as Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina all fell with just 49 on the board. Kohli had warmed up with a whip through mid-wicket and a drive on the up off successive deliveries, but was forced to rein himself in as the wickets tumbled around him.

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Kohli reminds me of Tendulkar: Steve Waugh

Former Australia captain Steve Waugh said on Thursday that he is reminded of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar whenever he watches star India batsman Virat Kohli in action.

"The greatest T20 batsman right now is Virat Kohli. He has an average of over 50 and an amazing strike rate. I see a bit of Tendulkar in him everytime he walks in to bat," Waugh told Sports Today.
India have been placed in a difficult group along with arch-rivals Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh at the ongoing World Twenty20 and Waugh felt that Kohli will be key if the hosts were to win the trophy for a record second time.

"If India have to win this World T20, Kohli will have to score a lot of runs," he said.
Waugh said Kohli's aggression put him at par with a lot of good Australian cricketers.

"Kohli is a lot like an Australian player. He loves playing against Australia and loves the aggressive Australian crowds. Kohli is the ultimate cricketer but the only question for him is if he can keep his cool under pressure," the 50-year-old said.

India suffered a jolt at the very start of their World T20 campaign as they lost to New Zealand by 47 runs in the tournament opener on Tuesday. The Super 10 Group 2 match in Nagpur saw both sets of batsmen struggle on a turning pitch.

The Indian batsmen, renowned for their ability to play the turning ball, showed poor application and shot selection with nine of them falling to the Kiwi spinners -- a T20 record.
Waugh however, felt that the Indians will be able to recover from the shock and go on to do well in the rest of the tournament.

"If you ask Indian players if they mind playing playing on a turning, they would not mind, because they are used to that. I don't think that is an excuse. Maybe they were caught out by the quality of the New Zealand bowling the other night. Maybe they were a little complacent. Having said that, they have not beaten New Zealand in a T20 game," Waugh said.

"Maybe it was one of those days where everything goes awry, nothing goes right. They need to move on and focus on the next game," he added.

Keep calm and carry on: Kohli

Star batsman Virat Kohli urged his team-mates to stay calm Monday amid growing fervour about India's prospects in the World Twenty20, ahead of the host's tricky tournament opener against New Zealand.

After winning 10 of their last 11 T20 internationals, India are red-hot favourites for the World T20 and former batsman Virender Sehwag said last week he was "99 percent certain" they would become the first team to win the trophy for a second time.

But Kohli, who is sometimes regarded as something of a firebrand, tried to put a dampener on expectations in a press conference on the eve of the match in Nagpur and said it was important not to get carried away.

"I think the key is to learn from the past where calmness is required in big tournaments like the ICC (International Cricket Council) events because you can get sort of carried away or over anxious or over excited," said Kohli, who is India's Test captain.

"Both those feelings are not great for any side going into a big tournament.
"What we've learned from playing in big tournaments in the past is that we have to stay as calm as possible and focus on the skills that need to be executed on the field."
India have a woeful track record against the Black Caps in World T20 tournaments, losing four out of their five previous encounters while the other match was rained off.

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