Centurion, South Africa

India's batting suffered a bitter blow on Day 1 of the Centurion Test as Kagiso Rabada stole the spotlight with his five-for against Rohit Sharma’s men. The South African speedster was the highlight reel of the day as India were 208/8 before rain played spoilsport. As a result, stumps were called early on Boxing Day with KL Rahul batting on 70 along with Mohammed Siraj (0). India are targeting their first series win in the Rainbow Nation, but will now have to roll up their sleeves while the hosts suffered injury scare in the form of Temba Bavuma’s hamstring issue.

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India make poor start

The hosts had an excellent first two sessions of Day 1 as they established complete dominance after Rabada’s masterclass with the ball. India were 24/3 in the first session after skipper Rohit Sharma (5), Yashasvi Jaiswal (17) and Shubman Gill (2) fell in quick succession. Nandre Burger was the architect-in-chief of India’s downfall as he got the better of Gill and Jaiswal.

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The visitors then built a partnership of 68 runs as Shreyas Iyer (31) and Virat Kohli (38) helped India get back in the contest. However, in the second session, Rabada again showed his class to get the better of Iyer putting India on the back foot on 92/4.

ALSO READ | WATCH: South Africa dealt huge blow on Day 1 vs India as Temba Bavuma limps off with hamstring issue

Ravichandran Ashwin (8) and Shardul Thakur (24) then followed soon as India lost their way against the exceptional South African star Rabada.

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At stumps, India were 208/8 as the umpired decided to call it a day with no more play expected to take place at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Boxing Day. KL Rahul is India’s best hopes to get to a respectable total as he is still unbeaten on 70 while Mohammed Siraj is yet to get off the mark.

For the hosts, Rabada has figures of 44/5 in his 17 overs while Nandre Burger (50/2) and Marco Jansen (52/1) were also amongst the wicket-takers. The hosts though could have a tough second day with the bat as having lost skipper Temba Bavuma through injury during the first session. He was seen limping off with a hamstring issue during the 20th over of India’s first innings.