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Sachin Tendulkar boarded the Mumbai-bound flight on Wednesday in a jovial mood. From being 0-1 down in the series, India had just staged a dramatic comeback, shooting South Africa out for 55 – their lowest total since 1932 – in their first innings of the second Test. Watching Mohammed Siraj bowl one of the best spells by an Indian pacer in overseas conditions was still fresh in the little master’s mind. “Siraj weaving magic at Newlands! Impeccable length and a spellbinding display of seam bowling!” he tweeted. Little did he know that by the time his flight landed in Mumbai, India too would be all out.
If South Africa getting bowled out in the first session after opting to bat wasn’t enough, the visitors, in their reply, lost six wickets at the same score to rewrite the history books. Day 1 of the IND vs SA New Year’s Test at Newlands in Cape Town saw wickets tumble as if they were inevitable. 23 wickets fell on Wednesday as batters of both sides appeared clueless in front of the steep and unpredictable bounce of the Newlands pitch.
It is hard to believe that a side who managed only 55 runs in their first innings of a Test match, would still have a good chance of winning the match at the end of the day’s play. After what transpired in India’s innings, South Africa have every right to believe they are still in it.
From being 154/4, in a comfortable position to bat South Africa out of the match with a sizeable lead, India lost their last six wickets in 11 balls for zero runs. It is the most wickets to fall at the same score in an international match.
Tendulkar couldn’t believe the scorecard when he reached home. Not only were India all out but South Africa too lost three wickets in their second innings. In a span of a little more than three hours, 13 wickets had fallen and this after the team winning the toss was bowled out in the first session.
“Cricket in ‘24 begins with 23 wickets falling in a single day. Unreal! Boarded a flight when South Africa was all out, and now that I’m home, the TV shows South Africa has lost 3 wickets. What did I miss?” Tendulkar wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
When India took the lead, they were scoring at more than six runs an over. Captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill were going all guns blazing. The nature of Newlands pitch, however, meant the bowlers were always in the game. Nandre Burger got one to bounce awkwardly from a length to get rid of Rohit for 36. Virat Kohli joined Gill. The duo looked positive, sending the overpitched deliveries to the fence and handling the ones pitched on a good length with assurance.
But just like Rohit, Gill too got one from Burger that bounced a little more than his expectations to nick off in the slip cordon. The young left-armer only in his second Test match found the sweet spot. He landed one to Shreyas Iyer in that area to send him packing for a duck.
In the last session, Kohli and KL Rahul took India past 150. The pitch appeared to be settling down. Or so it seemed. Rahul flashed one outside the off stump only to get an outside edge to the keeper. Lungi Ngidi got his maiden wicket of the match. What transpired in the next 10 balls was simply unbelievable.
The next four Indian batters were out for a duck and Kohli too fell for 46. Lungi Ngidi (3/30) and Kagiso Rabada (3/38) got five of those six wickets keeping the lead below 100 and gaining the necessary psychological advantage as 23 wickets fell on the opening day.
South Africa were more cautious despite being aggressive as they scored 62 for three in their second innings at stumps to bring down the deficit to 36 runs. Aiden Markram (32 batting) looked solid in the middle. The maximum number of wickets lost on Day 1 of a Test is 25 and that happened in an Ashes Test back in 1902.
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