Proteas batsmen need to turn it on

Morne Morkel and AB de Villiers celebrate the wicket of Indian captain Virat Kohli during day one of the third Test in Nagpur on Wednesday. Photo: Amit Dave, Reuters

Morne Morkel and AB de Villiers celebrate the wicket of Indian captain Virat Kohli during day one of the third Test in Nagpur on Wednesday. Photo: Amit Dave, Reuters

Published Nov 25, 2015

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Nagpur - The Proteas face an uphill battle to remain in contention for a series victory after India got on top on a spinning pitch during Wednesday’s first day of the third Test in Nagpur.

While Hashim Amla’s side did well to dismiss India for just 215 on day one, the Proteas ended the day on 11/2, having lost the wickets of opener Stiaan van Zyl (0) and nightwatchman Imran Tahir (4).

Amla and Dean Elgar managed to survive a number of close shaves in the last few overs of the day as the ball was bouncing and turning excessively as the Indian spinners got the maximum out of yet another dusty track.

Proteas tweakers Simon Harmer (4/78 in 27.2 overs), Tahir (1/41 in 12.5) and Elgar (1/7 in 4) were also ripping the ball square on what was a sub-standard pitch for a day one wicket.

While speedster Morné Morkel was the pick of the South African attack with 3/35 in 16.1 overs, and Kagiso Rabada (1/30 in 17 overs) was also able to get prodigious reverse swing, the spinners troubled the Indian batting line-up throughout.

None of the Indian batsmen really looked settled on the difficult pitch, with opener Murali Vijay top-scoring with 40, and middle-order men Ravindra Jadeja (34) and Wriddiman Saha (32) put together an important 48-run partnership late in the day.

Morkel bowled with great rhythm and venom in the absence of the injured Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, and he did well to lead the Proteas attack. He struck Vijay on the helmet with a vicious bouncer early on, which set the tone for his performance.

Morkel mixed up the short stuff with excellent reverse swing that accounted for Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane, while he made the ball go the other way to induce an outside edge from Indian captain Virat Kohli, who was caught behind by Dane Vilas for 22.

Proteas coach Russell Domingo, though, will be concerned about Morkel’s fitness after the big man limped off the field with what Cricket South Africa said on Twitter was “cramp”.

But the manner in which Harmer and Tahir were turning the ball spells danger for the Proteas batsmen, as the Nagpur pitch resembled a late day five surface rather than a day one track. One of the ground staff even had to sweep away debris during the first session of play, so badly had the pitch deteriorated already.

So, the 215 runs on the board from the Indians is worth much more than its face value, probably around 400 even.

With the Proteas 1-0 down with just two Tests left in the series, they will need senior men such as captain Amla, World No 1 batsmen AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis to score as many runs as possible in the first innings to give the South Africans a chance of victory.

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