First Test, Day 1, Tea
India: 202/0 (Sharma 115*, Agarwal 84*)
India have taken complete control on the opening day of the first Test against the Proteas at Visakhapatnam.
Openers Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal have dominated the Proteas bowling unit, with Sharma moving towards his maiden Test century at the top of the order.
Sharma (115*, 12x4, 5x6) survived a tense new-ball period early on in the day after captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat before flourishing against the visitors' three-pronged spin attack.
Neither Keshav Maharaj, Dane Piedt or Senuran Muthusamy had answer to Sharma's flowing blade. He was comfortable cutting off the back foot, while also not afraid to advance down the wicket to loft the ball down the ground for six.
Agarwal was the perfect foil for his more experienced batting partner, with the right-hander comfortable to play the supporting role in the double-century partnership for the first wicket.
However, Agarwal did not miss out either when the Proteas bowlers over-pitched or missed their lengths.
The most worrying aspect for the Proteas' bowlers is that they have not really created a clear-cut chance as yet, with the closest being when Sharma top-edged a sweep shot off Muthusamy when he went to his century.
The ball just evaded a diving Kagiso Rabada before speeding off the boundary that set off the celebrations in the Indian dressing room.
The Proteas bowlers offered some respite when the clouds gathered and lightning struck to bring an early close to the session.
TEAMS
South Africa
Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, Theunis de Bruyn, Faf du Plessis (capt.), Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wk), Vernon Philander, Senuran Muthusamy, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Piedt
India
Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt.), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami
@ZaahierAdams
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