After captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat first, the hosts’ batsmen, barring Rohit Sharma, enjoyed a good day at office. At stumps on the first day of the second Test against South Africa, India were 273/3 in 85.1 overs. Play ended early due to bad light and 4.5 overs were lost
Pune: Mayank Agarwal hit his second consecutive century as India called the shots on the opening day of the second Test against South Africa here in Pune on Thursday (October 10).
After captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat first at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium, the hosts’ batsmen, barring Rohit Sharma, enjoyed a good day at office.
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At stumps on the first day, India were 273/3 in 85.1 overs. Play ended early due to bad light and 4.5 overs were lost.
At the start of the day, Indian openers Mayank and Rohit had some tough time against the new ball. Rohit, who hit two centuries in the opening Test victory in Visakhapatnam, was dismissed for 14 by Kagiso Rabada, caught by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.
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Mayank played cautiously and later started dealing in boundaries. The Karnataka right-hander, who scored 215 in the first innings in Visakhapatnam, continued his fine form to bring up his second Test century.
The 28-year-old hit 16 fours and two sixes in his 195-run 108. He was caught by captain Faf du Plessis off Rabada. Mayank and Cheteshwar Pujara put on 138 runs for the second wicket. Du Plessis-Rabada combination sent back Pujara.
Pujara scored a half century (58, 112 balls, 9x4, 1x6) while Kohli too joined to make runs and remain unbeaten on 63 (105 balls, 10x4) at the end of day’s play.
Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane (18 not out) will resume tomorrow. This match is Kohli's 50th as India Test captain. He is only the second Indian after Mahendra Singh Dhoni to lead India in 50 or more Tests. Dhoni had captained in 60 matches.
For South Africa, all three wickets were claimed by Rabada (3/48 in 18.1 overs) while debutant fast bowler Anrich Nortje (0/60 in 13 overs) generated good pace bowling consistently at 140 kph-plus but had nothing to show in the wickets column.
That will be Stumps on Day 1 in Pune. 273/3. Kohli 63*, Rahane 18*. Join us for Day 2 tomorrow pic.twitter.com/78HYVJAD2g
— BCCI (@BCCI)This is a three-Test series for the Gandhi-Mandela Trophy. India hold a 1-0 lead. The final Test is in Ranchi from October 19.
After the day's play, Mayank said, "Very happy that I could get back-to-back hundreds, that's a good feeling. The team is in a good position, winning the toss, batting first and with one batsman short, it's a good thing to make runs. There were periods when runs weren't coming easily, they bowled good spells, tight spells and didn't let us score."
Earlier, India dropped Hanuma Vihari and brought in paceman Umesh Yadav. The visitors included Nortje in place of Dane Piedt.
Brief scores (Day 1)
India 273/3 in 85.1 overs (Mayank Agarwal 108, Virat Kohli 63 not out, Cheteshwar Pujara 58, Kagiso Rabada 3/48) vs South Africa
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