India’s batsman Mohammed Shami, middle, successfully appeals for the dismissal of South Africa’s Aiden Markram, during the first day of the 2nd Test Cricket match between South Africa and India at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
The first nine overs of the Wanderers Test suggested a near-repeat of the first hour of the Centurion Test. South Africa had squandered the new ball on Boxing Day, bowling too wide and serving up too many boundary balls to build any sort of pressure with the new Kookaburra. India’s openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal had gone on to add 117, and the match was to slip away from South Africa right there.
But in sharp contrast, at the end of the day in Johannesburg, hosts were the happier lot after dismissing India for 202 and reaching 35/1. Had it not been for a resolute half-century by KL Rahul, leading India in the absence of Virat Kohli who is nursing an upper back spasm and a valuable cameo from Ravichandran Ashwin, the tourists would have struggled to cross 150. (READ FULL REPORT)