With their renewed energy and sticking to a simpler plan of targeting the off-stump line- in the second session on Day 1 at the SuperSport Park, South African pacers, inspired by Kagiso Rabada wreaked havoc as they reduced India to seven down at stroke of tea. However, India managed to go past the 200-run mark in the final session before heavy rain forced an early stumps in Centurion, it was courtesy of a valiant score of an unbeaten 70 from KL Rahul. Batting with the tail-end of India’s line-up, Rahul notched up a fifty in his first Test appearance in almost a year while playing at No. 6 for the first time in eight years.
En route to his knock, there was one moment from the final session of the opening day that went viral on social media. The incident happened in the 45th over of the first innings of the match when South African fast bowler Marco Jansen, who was thrashed by Rahul for successive boundaries a few overs earlier and a six over sweeper cover in just the previous delivery, lost his temper and hurled a mouthful at the India batter.
After being hit for a maximum, Jansen went back to testing line and length as Rahul pushed the fuller delivery to short cover. There was no single taken, but a fuming Jansen saying a few words to the India batter, who only responded with a smile.
Watch the video here…
Earlier in the day, Rabada picked up a five-wicket haul, which included the dismissal of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli while debutant Nandre Burger struck twice with the new ball as India ended Day 1 at 208 for eight.
Rahul, who only batted at No. 6 once in his career, in his debut in 2014 in Australia, returned to the position as a wicketkeeper-batter and notched up his 14th career fifty. The Centurion Test is in fact the first-ever game where Rahul is featuring as a wicketkeeper in his red-ball career.
