India vs South Africa 1st Test Day 1 Highlights – Jan 5, 2018
SA v Ind highlights today – First test day one from Newlands, Cape Town (South Africa) Friday 5th January 2018. From a very long time, Indian team played many series at home which means their first test can be much difficult in South Africa because of the weather and pitch conditions. India had not lost any series during this time at home. India had not won any series against South Africa in South Africa from past twenty-five years and now they have a chance because their team performance and players form is on top position.
Toss: South Africa
India team/playing XI
1 M Vijay, 2 Shikhar Dhawan/KL Rahul, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rohit Sharma/Hardik Pandya, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Mohammed Shami.
South Africa team/playing XI
1 Dean Elgar, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 AB de Villiers/Temba Bavuma 6 Quinton de Kock (wk), 7 Andile Phehlukwayo/Chris Morris, 8 Vernon Philander, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Dale Steyn/Morne Morkel, 11 Keshav Maharaj.
One of the indicators of a good pitch is when you don’t know what you want to do if you win the toss. This Newlands pitch has that quality. Normally you want to bat first, as teams have done in 44 of the 54 Tests here, but with a decent amount of grass left on it, and if the tablecloth covers the mountain between the toss and the start of the match, you could end up getting bundled out. Sides losing the toss have won more Newlands Tests than the ones winning: 22 to 21. To go with the grass, there are vertical cracks on the pitch, reminding one journalist of the 47 all out the game here, but Philander said that pitch actually looked flatter than this and that at Newlands it was more about the overheads. If there is a north-westerly blowing, the ball moves around a lot more. If there is a cloud cover, things get difficult for the batsmen. Only the first and the fourth days of the Test are forecast to be cloudy and breezy.
Highlights
Highlights will be available after end of the play.
Match Timings: 10.30 start, Lunch 12.30-13.10, Tea 15.10-15.30, Close 17.30
India tour of South Africa 1st Test Highlights
Umpires – Michael Gough, Richard Kettleborough
TV Umpires – Paul Reiffel
Match Referee – Chris Broad
Reserve Umpire – Bongani Jele
Match number – Test no. 2292
Viral illness to Ravindra Jadeja has made one decision for India on the spin front. However, Shikhar Dhawan has been declared fit, and India will have to choose between his aggression and left-handedness, and KL Rahul’s more solid but less explosive game. Umesh Yadav is likely to be the one to miss out among the fast bowlers. The other selection choice to be made is between Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya. Again that depends on the conditions. The more bowling-friendly the pitch, the likelier Rohit is to play.South Africa are less sure than India. Du Plessis has called this the most difficult selection: he might have to choose between AB de Villiers and Temba Bavuma, Andile Phehlukwayo and Chris Morris, and Steyn and Morne Morkel. And then there could be a whole new combination wherein they don’t play an all-rounder at all.
Right now they are likely to play a seam-bowling allrounder – in large part due to the question marks over the fitness of their returning quicks. They do not want to be in a situation where one of them breaks down, and then they are left with just two quicks and a spinner. Bavuma or de Villiers may have to sit out if either Phehlukwayo or Morris plays. Du Plessis is back and will captain the side. Keeping transformation targets in consideration, if Morris plays, de Villiers might sit out, and Bavuma might miss out if Phehlukwayo plays. Steyn is five wickets short of becoming South Africa’s most prolific bowler, but he might just have to wait for his opportunity as South Africa will have to choose between him and Morne Morkel, who displayed fine form in the match against Zimbabwe.
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