India were poised with a 98-run lead after the tea break with Virat Kohli eyeing another Test fifty and Rahul settling down on the Newlands track that offered extra bounce to the pacer. The visitors seemed in cruise control and were expected to dominate the conditions in Cape Town under the Sun. But suddenly, the fortunes took a sharp turn and India suffered one of the worst collapses in Test history.
Rahul, who was marching ahead with full control, looked to shift gear and tried playing an uppercut off Lungi Ngidi’s short delivery. But he couldn’t sense the extra bounce and edged it straight to the keeper. His dismissal turned out to be the turning point in India’s well-shaped innings.
W, 0, W, 0, W, 0, 0, W, 0, W, W – those 11 deliveries during which 6 Indian batters had the worst-ever brain fade moment. From 153 for 4 to 153 all-out, India were on the mat. One loose shot from Rahul opened the floodgates as Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada ran riot to dismantle the Indian batting line-up.
IND vs SA 2nd Test Day 1 Live Score And Updates
Ngidi got the better of Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah with short balls as the three batters got completely outclassed.
It didn’t stop there as Rabada got the massive wicket of Virat Kohli who scored a fluent 46 runs but got out in some usual way – edging the ball at the second slip.
Mohammed Siraj got run out two balls later which added salt to India’s wounds.
Meanwhile, Prasidh Krishna edging the ball in the slip was the final nail in the coffin.
India registered their name in some unwanted record books after the embarrassing collapse.
Least partnership runs added by the last five pairs in an all-out Test innings
0 – IND vs SA, Cape Town, 2024
3 – ENG vs AUS, Melbourne, 1990
4 – NZ vs PAK, Auckland, 2001
Most ducks recorded in a Test innings
6 – PAK vs WI, Karachi, 1980
6 – SA vs IND, Ahmedabad, 1996
6 – BAN vs WI, Dhaka, 2002
6 – IND vs ENG, Manchester, 2014
6 – NZ vs PAK, Dubai (DSC), 2018
6 – BAN vs SL, Mirpur, 2022
6 – BAN vs WI, North Sound, 2022
6 – IND vs SA, Cape Town, 2024
India did manage to take a crucial 98-run lead but the way their innings folded up in an embarrassing manner is a concerning factor.
India were 111 for four at tea, a first-innings lead of 56.
Rohit Sharma (39 off 50 balls) and Shubman Gill (36 off 55 balls) hit a dozen of boundaries between them but the talented duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal (0) and Shreyas Iyer (0) didn’t trouble the scoreboard.
India cruised into the lead in 9.4 overs, before the afternoon drinks break, but left-arm fast bowler Nandre Burger took three wickets in a hostile spell before tea to prevent India achieving total dominance.
South Africa’s total was their lowest in almost 92 years, since they were bowled out for 36 and 45 by Australia in a rain-affected pitch in Melbourne in February 1932.
Brief scores:
South Africa 55 in 23.2 overs (J. Bumrah 2-25, Mohammed Siraj 6-15, M. Kumar 2-0).
India 153 in 34.5 overs (R. Sharma 39, S. Gill 36, V. Kohli 46; K. Rabada 3-38, L. Ngidi 3-30, N. Burger 3-42).
Match situation: India lead by 98 runs on the first innings.
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