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South Africa 11/2 at stumps vs India in 3rd Test, Day 1 at Nagpur; Trail by 204 runs

India were earlier bowled out for 215 by South Africa in their first innings.

South Africa did a clinical job on the field but will now hope to establish a lead on Day 2 © AFP
South Africa did a clinical job on the field but will now hope to establish a lead on Day 2 © AFP

South Africa have ended Day 1 at 13 for 2 still trailing India by 203 runs. Stiaan Van Zyl was dismissed for a duck off the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin. Ravindra Jadeja then joined the action dismissing night watchman Imran Tahir for 4. India were earlier bowled out for 215 after Simon Harmer, Morne Morkel ripped through the Indian batting order with four and three wickets respectively. India bowled 9 overs at South Africa but were not able to make any inroads. Ishant Sharma is India’s only fast bowler as India have decided to go with three spinners in the form of Amit Mishra, Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. It was Ashwin, who opened the bowling with Ishant, but had to settle for just the one wicket. . Day 2 of the Test match promises to be an exciting contest. India will look to bowl South Africa cheaply and establish a minor lead. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs South Africa 2015, 3rd Test at Nagpur

Barring the opening partnership, India kept losing wickets at regular intervals. South Africa would have been very happy with the fact that they were not letting the Indian batsmen settle. After the openers were dismissed in the first session, Cheteshwar Pujara was dismissed immediately after the lunch break. Ajinkya Rahane was looking to play some counter-attacking cricket but he could not score many despite making his intentions clear. He was soon back to the hut by Virat Kohli, who was dismissed yet again poking outside off for 22. Rohit Sharma, who was drafted into the side after some good performances in the Ranji Trophy failed miserably as he was dismissed for a 28-ball 2. Full Cricket Updates: India vs South Africa 2015, 3rd Test at Nagpur, Day 1

The tail-enders contributed a with the bat, which saved India from getting bowled out for an embarrassing score. The Indian bowlers will hope that they can get their team off to a good start by picking up a few quick wickets. A total of 12 wickets fell on Day 1 and one can perhaps see a similar amount of wickets falling when play resumes on Day 2.

Earlier, India won the toss and elected to bat first. The hosts made a couple of changes from the Bengaluru Test to their squad. Rohit regained his place in the team in place of Varun Aaron.  Mishra was added into the team as the third spinner in place of all-rounder Stuart Binny. India lead the 4-match series 1-0, with the 4th and final Test set to be played in Delhi after this match.

Brief scores:

India 215  (Murali Vijay 40, Wriddhiman Saha 32, Ravindra Jadeja 34; Morne Morkel 3 for 35, Simon Harmer 4 for 78) lead South Africa 11 for 1 (Dean Elgar 7*, Imran Tahir 4; Ravichandran Ashwin 1 for 5, Ravindra Jadeja 1 for 2) by 204 runs.

Full Scorecard

Photos

(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)

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